Jose Alfredo Guerra

Dec. 9, 1931 – Oct. 21, 2010

Jose Alfredo Guerra, 78, of Turlock, died Thursday at Alexander Cohen Hospice House in Hughson after a brief illness.

Born Dec. 9, 1931, in Mission, Texas, Mr. Guerra enlisted in the United States Air Force during college. He was stationed in France, where he met his wife, Mary Ann. He retired after a 20-year career in the military and went into teaching, working at Our Lady of Fatima in Modesto, Patterson Junior High and Patterson High School. He retired again, then went to work at California State University, Stanislaus, overseeing student teachers.

Mr. Guerra was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Father Heslin Council of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and American Legion Post 88. He was an avid fisherman and golfer.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Dan and Linda Guerra; daughter and son-in-law, Patty Guerra and Joe Cortez; and grandchildren Brad Torres and Emily, Hannah and Nicholas “Snoopy” Cortez; sisters, Estella Salinas, Maria Lydia Rodriguez and Elvira de la Garza and brother-in-law Jesse de la Garza, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and their families.

Visitation is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a rosary in the chapel of Turlock Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 425 N. Soderquist Road, Turlock. A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1200 Lyons Ave., Turlock.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks remembrances be sent to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, 8330 Ward Parkway, Suite 510, Kansas City, MO 64114-2000.