Oscar Leonel Rosa

25, Bell Gardens

At home, Oscar Rosa was a quiet boy. At school, he was the star debater, and later a star coach.

“Oscar helped many students grow into the people they are,” said Samantha Rosas, the current debate team captain at Rosa’s alma mater. “He consoled me as I cried after losing in debate, and he never failed to make all of us laugh.”

Rosa put Cudahy’s Elizabeth Learning Center debate team on the map, his sister Irma said.

After graduating from ELC, where he was debate captain, he returned to the school to help coach the team. At competitions, he’d even lend a hand to students from opposing teams.

Oscar Leonel Rosa died of COVID- 19 complications on June 26 at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. He was 25.

Rosa always found time to help others. Although he commuted to Cal State Fullerton from his family’s Bell Gardens home, he used his business smarts to help his dad with the paperwork and payroll at his mechanic shop in Commerce.

“Somehow, this kid was getting his major, his minor, helping my dad with his job and would go back to Cudahy from Fullerton to coach the kids twice a week,” Irma said. “It’s so strange to explain how he found the time to do everything.”

A few months ago, Rosa bought his two younger siblings their own cars so they could commute to their classes at Cal State Northridge. He was paying the cars off and told them not to worry about the payments. He wanted his siblings to focus on school and have a future, like the one he was building for himself.

“He always would tell them to ‘ echarle muchas ganas,’ ” his mom said. Put in your best effort.

After Rosa died, his sister called the dealership to see when the next payments were due for both cars. Rosa had them paid until October.

“Oscar left, but he blasted a lot of love into the universe,” Irma said. “He was always planning ahead.”

Rosa started running a fever on June 11, a few days after using a rental car. Three days later, he tested positive for COVID- 19. His family tried to keep him in isolation as his symptoms worsened.

He was taken to a hospital on June 15 as he started having trouble breathing and his body began to ache. He died 11 days later.

Rosa is survived by his parents, Sonia and Oscar, and his siblings, Irma, Eduardo and Noé.

“It feels as if they cut off my right arm,” his mother said. “He was everything to us.”

— Tomás Mier