Guillermo Rivera

Heaven celebrates the arrival of it newest citizen! Guillermo Rivera, who was born in Bogotá, Colombia to the parents of Maria Roca and Julio Rivera. He was the oldest of five brothers and one sister. Guillermo loved working with his father, who taught him, "If you're going to do something, do it right". Guillermo loved the outdoors and was the captain of his bicycle racing team in Colombia. He later joined the Colombian Navy and was part of the crew on the "Almirante Padilla" and fought in the Korean War, stationed in Japan for 2 years. He was a radio operator and was known to be one of the fastest radiomen using Morse code during that time. Returning to Colombia, after the war, he met Lolita Ormaza and they married on July 27, 1957. On that same day, they moved to the United States. They first lived in New York City, and later moved to Los Angeles where he followed the footsteps of his father, becoming a Civil Engineer. One of his proudest accomplishments was becoming a U.S. citizen, and he loved flying his American flag. He loved all things American, including music. His favorites were big band and jazz, with artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, to name a few. He also loved baseball and tried to never miss a game of his favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1965 he was transferred to Santa Barbara and worked with Safeco Title Insurance Co. and later worked with the County of SB in the department of County Surveyor. Guillermo had many hobbies such as being a ham radio operator, photography and tennis, but his absolute favorite was sailing. He was happiest being out at sea. He loved the outdoors and his family has great memories of road trips to Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and Palm Springs. Through ham radio, Guillermo made many friends around the world including contacts with those working in orphanages in Mexico. He made many missions trips to Baja, filling up his van and taking his family with him to offer assistance. He cared about others and was always there to offer a helping hand. For several years, he and his wife Lolita also had a Spanish ministry on Christian radio called "La Hora Latina" with KBLS, here in Santa Barbara. Guillermo is survived by his wife, Lolita and four children: Gloria Weisman and her husband Greg; William Rivera and his wife Jill; Jeannette Hirschberg and her husband Cliff; and Christina Rivera. He has nine grandchildren, Daniel, Rebekah, William, Christa, Steven, Ryan, Alex, Nico, Joshua and one great grand daughter, Hannah Luz. All who dearly love him will miss him, but we rejoice in knowing that he has made it home. His family would like to thank everyone that lovingly cared for him including the staff at The Californian; his doctor, Michael Bordofsky MD; and Welch-Ryce-Haider. A memorial service for Guillermo will be held on June 27th at New Life Church, 50 E. Alamar at 2pm. All those who knew him are invited for a celebration of his life and encouraged to wear blue, as it was his favorite color.

Guillermo Rivera

June 25, 1930 - May 24, 2015