Longtime Tacna eatery closes doors

Jewelry design shop, San Luis health clinic move to new locations

Tacna residents have expressed sorrow after Basque Etchea Restaurant, 8575 S. Avenue 40 East, closed its doors last weekend.

Frances Jorajuria and her late husband, Fidel, started the business in 1979. People have been telling me that the restaurant was supported not only by the locals but many people from Yuma.

Fidel, a Spaniard, died in 2015. Frances is now retiring and daughter Marie has health issues.

Fidel’s obituary contained a trove of the wonderful history behind the restaurant and its owners. Fidel was born on Aug. 17, 1931, in Sunbilla, Navarra, Spain, into a very large Basque family that included 10 brothers and one sister.

He left for the United States at 16 to work in Wyoming as a sheepherder. A couple of years later, he came to Arizona to join his uncle as a sheepherder. He then went to work for a sheep company under Frank Auza, father of his future wife.

Fidel and Frances had two children Marie and Mike. They lived in Casa Grande for a few years and started a sheep company with Fermin Echeverria. In 1959, the family moved to Tacna, joining the sheep and Fidel who had came a few years before.

In 1973, Fidel, his brother Ramon and son Mike started Triple J Ranch. They farmed and ranched sheep in the Wellton-Mohawk Valley for 30 years.

In 1979, Fidel built the Basque Etchea with help from Ramon, Mike,

LOANED PHOTOS YUMA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER Primary Care San Luis clinic recently moved into a larger building that will offer a more spacious waiting area, along with additional exam rooms. The clinic’s new address is 845 E. B St. in San Luis.

CUSTOM JEWELRY ARTIST Kirstin Codling has moved her business “Kirstin Noelle Designs” to 297 S. Main St., across from Da Boyz and next door to Rebel and Rove, in downtown Yuma.