Richard Garcia Macias' Obituary
Eulogy of Richard Garcia Macias
Written by Richard’s Childday Friend, Delfina Lin-Sau Fung (Baby Fina)
Delivered by Delfina Lin-Sau Fung on Richard’s Funeral held on April 30, 2013
while Baby Fina was holding she and Richard’s favorite Baby Fur Fur
Thank you all for coming here today to say our goodbye to Richard.
Richard was born, Richard Garcia Macias, on January 15, 1951 at El Paso, Texas. His father was Inocencio Lopez Macias, and his mother was Delfina Azcarate Garcia. When Richard left us on April 23, 2013, he was 62 years and 3 months young.
Richard had three siblings, including one older brother, George, one older sister, Elena, and a younger brother, David. His older sister is present here today. His younger brother, David, had passed away in 2009.
During his life time, Richard had obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 1973, and obtained a Master of Arts degree in History at the California State University, Sacramento, in 1983.
Richard worked at the Educational Opportunity Program at Cal State Sacramento, first as a tutor, then as the Learning Center Coordinator. Many of Richard’s students had become upstanding members of the society due to Richard’s direction and dedication at the Learning Center.
In 1987, Richard joined the San Francisco Passport Agency, Department of State, and worked his way up from the Passport Examiner, to the Fraud Prevention Manager position that he retired from, in May 2011, after he worked hard and served the Agency for 25 years.
After Richard retired in May 2011, he began to do volunteer work at the Berkeley Food and Housing Project, and continued to do so until he passed away unexpectedly. Some of his colleagues from the Berkeley Food and Housing Project are also present here today.
In my eyes, Richard had always been a kind and dedicated man, to the best he could, to me, and to his family members, friends, employers, and co-workers. Richard was also a very hardworking individual. In his life, Richard had tremendous interests in reading a whole variety of books and seeing various kinds of movies. At his passing, Richard had a collection of more than 400 books and 500 movies. Richard was also once a musician and music director, and he could play the saxophone, clarinet, and flute music instruments very well.
Richard and I had kept each other company for closed to 33 years. Even though we had our ups and downs, we had always tried our best to find happiness in things we did together, such as seeing movies almost every weekend, and travelling to various places. Sometimes, after we saw movies, we would talk about how we would make the plots of certain movies better.
One of Richard and I’s most memorable trips together was our 2005 trip to Japan, Hong Kong, and Macau, where we were able to visit our favorite Hello Kitty character at her House at Japan’s Puroland. The photo that is on our crypt marble wall at this Chapel of the Chimes, was a photo that we took together with Hello Kitty and our Baby Fur Fur, at Hello Kitty’s House at Puroland. Richard and I also visited the Hong Kong Victoria Peak, where an old classic movie, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, starring William Holden, was filmed. Richard told me that ever since he was a little boy, he had always hoped to go visit Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak someday, after he saw the scene of the Victoria Peak in that movie. We were also very happy that, even though we were both busy working professionals, we were able to go to the Sundance Festival in 2009 at Park City, Utah, to experience firsthand, the enthusiasm of other movie buffs, and to attend first screening movies.
Richard will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will always remember the good times that we spent and treasured together.
On behalf of Richard, I would like to thank you all again for coming here today, to say our goodbye to Richard, and to send him off to a journey that he has to travel by himself for now with the company of his Blade Runner Limited Edition DVD, Hello Kitty DVD player, clarinet, favorite Chinese History book and Master Degree Thesis.
Thank you again for coming.
What’s your fondest memory of Richard?
What’s a lesson you learned from Richard?
Share a story where Richard's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Richard you’ll never forget.
How did Richard make you smile?