The child, (pictured below, circa 1929) now grown old, was interred today, the 27th of August, 2014. The service on the evening prior to burial was simple but heartfelt. It was not the service accorded heads of state. Not present were the cameras and lights, nor the crowds and hoopla available for the rich and famous. The recent death of an actor, on the other hand was bewailed nation wide. The press could not be stilled concerning him. Thousands attended his funeral. The services for Juan Chapa Gutierrez on the other hand, barely rated an obit notice in a small town’s paper. Nor were there many in attendance. But one thing could be said about Juan Chapa Gutierrez which cannot be said for many a head of state, or many of the rich and famous, or the much talked about actor. Juan was a man of integrity. He preached Christian values, and he lived them. The little boy, Juan Gutierrez, seen in the photograph carrying his box of animal crackers, was born on March 28, 1926, to Manuel Gutierrez and Juliana Chapa in the vicinity of what is today Buda, Texas. All his life he was a devotee of hard work. Beginning as a young boy in the cotton fields he progressed to work in a bakery, as a projector handler in a theatre, and 42 years in a textile mill. He first noticed his wife Irma when she was 7 and he was 14, When she turned 17, he married her, and the two remained husband and wife until his passing 64 years later, becoming in the process the parents and grandparents of four children, seven grandchildren, and twelve great grandchildren. No, not a lot of hoopla for Juan Chapa Gutierrez, who lived what he preached, and when any man had aught against him, he answered by turning to his Bible to explain to the man why he ought not be angry. Perhaps his favorite scripture verses defines him best “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13: 34-35) Yes, John loved even those who would be his enemies, forgiving them, and turning them with kind words. Many of the rich and famous who have died have had more people involved in planning their funerals than attended the funeral of Juan Chapa Gutierrez. The difference is that Juan was morally upright to the end, which came on August 20, 2014. He died at age 88, his integrity still intact, and his strong Christian values uncompromised. It is not the size of the funeral procession, nor the glizt of the affair which will matter before the Judge of all righteousness. One is reminded of the beggar, Lazarus, who desired to be fed of the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. When the two died, Lazarus was carried by angels, to Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man lay tormented in hell. (Luke 16: f20-26) The roles were now reversed. Shall it not be so for Juan Chapa Gutierrez, a man of integrity to the end of his days?
