Honoring the Past, Embracing the Present, Guiding the Future
Guadalupe & Lilia Martinez Foundation
Juvenal Garcia
Juvenal Garcia came to work for Don Lupe in 1947 as a vaquero. His work remained the same for the sixty years he worked at La Union Ranch. He worked with the livestock and helped maintain the physical property. This work is a classic folk occupation — it is passed on through face-to-face interaction in informal situations. It is learned in an apprenticeship process, by imitation and practice.
Juvenal and Don Lupe had a fierce loyalty and trust to one another due to the harsh conditions of the work. Juvenal was also the official host, cook and bartender at the ranch when Don Lupe was not there.
He died a year and a half after Don Lupe's death.