A gentle and kind Hillcrest fixture, Enrique Gama, passed away suddenly this past week. For decades, he was a constant presence at the Union 76 service station on Sixth and Robinson. He seems to have always been there. Passing away at age 54, he started work at that service station 28 years ago.
A gentle man with a kind word for all, he was scrupulously honest in all of his work but, more importantly, he always had a twinkly smile that said that everything would be OK.
If you looked around the lot, it was always filled with more than a dozen cars, often “beaters” where those who are just scraping by knew that their car would be properly taken care of at the most reasonable price.
A number of his clients gathered for a spontaneous memorial on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Their feelings were best expressed by one person who said: “While he was like a doctor for my car, he was a friend who had a caring relationship with me.”
A father whose daughter was recently engaged, he was the sole supporter of his Tijuana family. In a real sense, he was part of our Hillcrest family and we are poorer because we will no longer have him in our lives.
The family established a Go Fund Me account so that anyone who knew him, was touched by him, might make a donation to help defray his funeral expenses and to help them since he was their sole support.
— Written by Rene Smith, Hillcrest
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Love you Enrique. Miss you. Thanks for always being super cool.
-Lisa
This is so shocking and sad. He was a wonderful guy in every way. What was the cause of his passing?
Hola. Soy la Sra Ana Luisa Guerra hija del Sr Alfredo Guerra de SD. Me estoy enterando lo q le paso a Enrique y me dio una tristeza enorme. Mi papá también falleció en Noviembre. Lo queríamos mucho a Enrique. Me gustaría ponerme en contacto con Uds. porfavor me pueden mandar un email con un teléfono xq el q tenía pues está desconectado. Muchas gracias
Hola Ana Luisa, soy hija de Enrique. Lamento mucho la pérdida de Don Alfredo, mi papá lo mencionaba y nos platicaba de él. Dime cómo pudiéramos contactarte, a mi mamá le gustaría contactarte pero no tenemos tu correo.
Querida Familia Gama,
Supe solamente ayer que Enrique se fue en el otro mundo con los ángeles de Dios.
Siento mucho el dolor del pasar de Enrique. Que buena persona, siempre con su sonrisa resplandeciente como el sol, chistando con todo el mundo y tenía respeto por todos. Era el mejor mecánico que e conocido en mi vida. Lo conocía desde 1996… Nos va a extrañar mucho. Que Dios bendiga su espíritu y su familia siempre.
ND