Jose Rafael Chavez 1973 – 2009

We are saddened to announce the death of our friend and longtime associate, Jose Rafael Chavez. Jose, who we all referred to as Rafael, or “Raffi”, was killed on February 15th near San Diego during his recent return across the border into the United States after traveling home to Guatemala following the Christmas season. It is thought that robbery may have been the motive. Jose Rafael was held in high esteem by everyone at Santa & Sons for his temperament and character. In spite of a most difficult path in life, he never complained and consistently maintained a positive attitude towards work and others around him. He was often underestimated, but did not seem to begrudge it. Rather, he applied his innate intelligence to the job at hand, and we relied upon his knowledge of the inventory on hand during the season as well as his mastery of the construction, tear down and packing phases. He was unquestionably loyal, completely reliable and always hard working. Jose Rafael helped us all learn a lesson about the meaning of Christmas back in 2006. It was just a few days before the holiday and we had begun to tear down the tree lot but were still waiting on a few customers. Sometime towards evening, he became aware that his wallet was missing. It contained all the money he had saved from the entire season, over $1200, and was all the money he had in the world. Several hours of frantic searching turned up nothing and his despair deepened. The entire crew, knowing Raffi struggled financially so much of the time, voluntarily showed up at 7am the following morning to conduct another search in the vain hope that the light of day would yield better results. But after several more hours, w e all knew he had been pick-pocketed, and the mood on the crew was as low as can be for the rest of the day. But by that evening we decided that we were not going to let this trouble fall on the one least able to bear it just days before Christmas. So in addition to kicking in a little dough, we took it upon ourselves to make every customer pitch in $20 to the cause before we would talk discounts for the trees. No contribution, No discount! And if they didn’t, we would take $20 from the till for the full price tree and throw it in the kitty anyway. In the last three days before Christmas, we raised just over $1100 for Rafael, and we got him a new wallet, too! On Christmas Eve, when we all gave it to him, there wasn’t anyone there not crying. It was an experience of the real love that is at the heart of the meaning of Christmas. Good will to all mankind. | Following that Christmas, Jose Rafael came up to Oregon and spent some time learning the farming side of Christmas trees. It was the first time he had ever seen snow. Most of these photos were taken during that period in the winter and spring of 2007. To say that he will be missed is a grand understatement. He arose from humble origins and trod a far more difficult path than most of us to achieve that which is rare indeed. Rafael was a man with a good and sincere heart.       “¡Qué andes con Dios, amigo nuestro!”