Antelmo Candido Garcia

64, Pasadena

Antelmo Candido Garcia is remembered by those close to him as a provider and a family man who left behind five children when he died of complications from COVID- 19 in May, just days before his 65th birthday.

“He took care of everybody’s burden,” said one of his sons, Emmanuele Antelmo Garcia.

Garcia immigrated from Mexico to the U. S. in 1984 to escape poverty and crime in his homeland. Part of a large family, he had left school at 10 to help out, and later worked as a cabdriver.

Once in the U. S., Antelmo moved to Pasadena and worked as a chef. He loved to cook. He also loved to write poetry and sing along to his favorite crooner, Vicente Fernández.

Emmanuele believes that his father probably contracted the virus while working at a fast- food restaurant. Garcia had high blood pressure and diabetes and tried to be cautious, his son said. But at work he was discouraged from wearing a mask out of concern it would scare off customers, Emmanuele said.

Garcia was admitted to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena in early April and for the next two months suffered through blood clots, kidney issues and pneumonia. On May 22, after a discussion with the attending medics, the decision was made to end life support.

“We decided to end his suffering,” his son said. “The doctor said, ‘ He’s not going to make it.’ ”

Garcia’s wife had died of cancer three years earlier, and the impact of losing a second parent was devastating to Emmanuele and his siblings.

“He was the mortar holding everything together,” Emmanuele said. “After he left, the whole family just fell apart.”

Emmanuele said he also tested positive for the virus and ended up losing his job and being evicted. He moved in with a cousin and launched a GoFundMe account to pay for his father’s funeral costs.

He was also left with regrets. In the rush to admit his father to the hospital, he never got a chance to say goodbye.

“I am angry that this pandemic was so mishandled and so political that we have lost loved ones,” Emmanuele said.

— Anousha S akoui