SHERMAN HEIGHTS LEADER ADVOCATED FOR FAMILIES

Dustano Gómez, a beloved community leader and one of the founders of the Sherman Heights Community Center, died Dec. 25 at age 99.

He passed away peacefully at his home in Sherman Heights surrounded by his loved ones.

Gómez was born Dec. 22, 1922, in Los Arenales, Guerrero, Mexico.

He moved to the U.S. in 1945 as part of the Bracero program, a farm labor agreement with Mexico that brought agricultural workers to this country.

He also worked as a taxi driver and in the hospitality industry in Mexico and as a laborer in the railroad industry in Alaska, where he was also a cook known for his enchiladas, according to those who knew him.

He eventually retired as a construction worker; he participated in the construction of the San Diego Convention Center.

In 1976, he settled in Sherman Heights, where he lived for nearly 50 years.

He is remembered for his tireless fight to demand better conditions for working families in the community, near Petco Park and East Village.

“He was a person who never gave up on his community,” recalled Christian Ramírez, neighbor and longtime human rights activist.

In the 1980s, he organized neighbors and helped establish the Sherman Action Committee.

Also, as a member of the executive committee of the San Diego Organizing Project, he led efforts to improve the quality of education at Sherman Elementary School.

Back then, drugs and violence plagued the community, said Genoveva Aguilar, who grew up near the Gómez family home.

Gómez, among other community advocates, united local leaders to create an endowment that secured funding to build what many envisioned as safe space for the community. In 1984, the Sherman Heights Community Center was founded, for which he served as a member of its Board of Directors for years.

“He always had a vision of having a community center for young people so they could expand their horizons,” said Aguilar, now a labor rights activist. “He inspired the community to organize and change things.”

The center, which provides free services and classes, currently serves about 40,000 people a year living in Sherman Heights as well as in other nearby communities.

Daniela Kelly, executive director of the center, praised Gómez’s work. She said that while she did not have the pleasure of meeting him in person, it was common to hear stories about Gómez, and the

FROM love he had for the center and the community.

Gómez also served on the advisory board of the Paradise Senior Citizens and was a principal officer of the Club Recreativo Benito Juárez in Logan Heights.

Ramírez, policy director of the SEIU United Service Workers union, said Gómez leaves an example for new generations of how they can organize to make important changes in their neighborhoods. Ramírez said he and his family enjoy the fruits of Gómez’s labor today. “He was a pillar who gave his all for the community, and today

all of us who live there thank him for all the sacrifices he made for us.”

Gómez is survived by his wife, Raquel; his two children, Frank and Maricela; seven grandchildren, Genevieve, Frankie, Andy, Anthony, Jacqueline, Nicolas and Mariana; and seven great-grandchildren, Luis, Viviana, Alexis, Ricardo, Ismael,

Amelia and Micah.

Services will be held today beginning with a Mass at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Church, 656 24th St., San Diego, followed by burial at Holy Cross Cemetery, 4470 Hilltop Drive, San Diego.