Restaurateur Job Sanchez of Lodi passes away at 52
Sanchez, known for community service, battled COVID-19
A Lodi family known for giving back to schools and the community is in mourning this week after its patriarch succumbed to COVID-19.
Job Sanchez, owner of Casa Mexicana, died from the virus at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo exactly six weeks after being admitted for treatment. He was 52.
“It’s been pretty hard,” daughter Janelie Sanchez said this week. “I think we’re kind of still in shock. I honestly don’t believe it. I still think he’s going to walk through the door with a smile on his face and crack a joke.”
Janelie said she recently called the hospital for her father’s status update, and nurses told her that he was stable.
Later that morning, nurses called Janelie and said the family needed to come to the hospital immediately, because her father’s blood pressure had dipped severely within a matter of minutes and they were unable to stabilize it.
“We got there, and my dad was still stabilized,” Janelie Sanchez said. “We were there for a couple hours already, and my sister and I went downstairs to use the restroom. My uncle, one of my dad’s brothers, was outside the room with my mom. And then he came downstairs crying, and said he was gone.”
She ran back upstairs to ask what happened, she said, and nurses were unable to explain his sudden death. They told her he was fine and machines were working one minute, but the next minute they were not.
Janelie Sanchez is in the process of making funeral arrangements, and a date has yet to be determined.
Job Sanchez tested positive for COVID-19 in late November, three weeks after returning from a vacation with his wife.
He was admitted to Adventist Health Lodi Memorial on Dec. 10, and seemed to be doing better after a week of treatment. Two weeks after admission, he was transferred to Mills Peninsula for an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment.
However, staff at the San Mateo hospital said because he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks prior, he was ineligible for the procedure.
A GoFundMe page for medical and funeral expenses had collected nearly $32,000 of a $40,000 goal by Thursday.
Janelie Sanchez, her mother and her sister are trying their best to work through their loss, Janelie said. Long-time customers and members of the community who knew her father have been donating funds and checking up on them as much as they can, she added.
The family intends to keep operating the restaurant, she said.
“My parents have been here 21 years,” she said. “I told my mom I want to keep it open. We want to stay open because my dad has so many customers and knew so many people. It’s nice to see their faces and know that they knew my dad the same way I did — always smiling and always happy, always in a good mood.”
Janelie said the way the community has supported the family has meant a lot.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported us and still supports us, coming in to check on us,” she said. “People call every single day to ask us how we’re doing, and I really do appreciate that from the bottom of my heart. With all they’re giving us and helping us with, it’s been a lot easier on my mom and me.”
To donate to the Sanchez family, visit gofund.me/71fc7b74.