The Dalles Chronicle February 17, 2003 Front page FAMILY MOURNS LOSS OF HUSBAND, FATHER IN KILLING by Kirby Neumann-Rea special to The Chronicle Jorge Garcia, 15, made no attempt to hide his tears. Faustino Garcia "was a good man and a good father. We were spending a lot of time together," Jorge said Thursday as he sat near the fire in his family's photo-filled living room. Garcia was murdered February 12, two blocks from his home on W. Eugene Street in Hood River (Oregon). Suspects, and a motive remain unknown, according to investigators. "We are all in pieces," said Jorge's sister, Lupita, 18, holding her daughter, Alma Jinez Garcia, seven months. "We are all upset. We did not expect this to happen." Her mother, Rosario, sat on the couch, crying but comforting her daughter, Rosarita, 6, and son, Tinito, 10. Jorge and Tinito said Faustino loved soccer, particularly watching their Dynamos teams play, and rooting for the professional team Chivas in his native Mexico. Garcia, 52, who had lived in Hood River County for more than 25 years, will be buried in his home village of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, in keeping with his wishes, Rosario said. A fund has been established in the Garcia family name at Columbia River Bank in Hood River. The family's pain is underlined by the mystery of what happened to Faustino that morning. The family last saw Garcia alive at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday when he heard "something suspicious" outside their home at 1819 W. Eugene Street, a block from Hood River Middle School, according to Lupita. "We were waiting for him to come back down the street but he never came back," Lupita said. Garcia was preparing to go to work at Power Design in Odell (Oregon). For 10 years, since the company's inception, Garcia had worked as main supervisor at the company, which makes fiberglass enclosures, high voltage electrical switch gear and other industrial products. "We will really miss him," said Garcia's friend and employer, Eric Cederstam, president of Power Design, who had worked with Garcia for a total of 25 years, beginning at Western Power in Hood River. Garcia was the first person hired by Cederstam and co-founder Bill Beebe when they started Power Design in January 1993. "He was the hardest working employee I have ever known," Cederstam said. "He always put his family first and his job second, but if I asked him to work 24 hours a day he would. "I miss him very much, as a friend and a co-worker. He had a lot of knowledge that we relied on," Cederstam said. "He is a reason that our company has grown to the point it has and that we're successful." Garcia was responsible for supervising the work of nearly all 35 people employed at Power Design. "He was very knowledgeable about almost all phases of our operation," Cederstam said. "He had taken over a lot of responsibility for ordering supplies and materials. We are definitely going to miss that." Cederstam said Garcia rarely let illness get in the way of a day's work. "Even if he could hardly pull himself out of bed to get here, he'd come to work," Cederstam said. "He was usually the first to open, and he regularly worked until at least 4 p.m. every day. There were days I couldn't get him out of here. I tried." Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon Copied and submitted by Earline Wasser Member of Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society c/o The Dalles/Wasco County Public Library 722 Court Street The Dalles, Oregon 97058 http://community.oregonlive.com/cc/genealogy Browse http://historysavers.com/orwasco/for recently updated information regarding Wasco County Links are at the bottom of page http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail