Tomas Gonzalez Sr. selected Grand Marshal Santa Paula Labor Day Parade
Santa Paula News
Published: July 29, 2009
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Tomas Gonzalez Sr.
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The Santa Paula Labor Day Parade committee has selected Tomas Gonzalez as the Grand Marshal for the city’s annual Labor Day Parade scheduled for Monday, September 7 at 10:00 AM. The annual parade in its fifth year was conceived by Joanne Wright who felt strongly in the need to honor the workers of our community. The committee felt Mr. Gonzalez reflected Joanne’s criteria.
Tomas was born in Mexico on September 22, 1922 and spent his youth in the highlands of Jalisco. During this time he grew up on his father’s farms and had a variety of jobs and experiences. At one time or another he milked cows, herded hogs, cut hair, made saddles, made bricks and sold animal feed.
It was in Jalisco that he met his wife Sara who was a young lady from Arizona who was visiting the area. Within a few months they were married and started a family. In the early 60’s he moved his family north and eventually joined a friend in Camarillo where he worked on a hog farm in Somis. Eventually, he found a job at Limoneira. His initial job was harvesting fruit but soon he joined the nursery department where under the direction of Bud Garner he worked growing lemon, orange and avocado trees for the company’s operation. His efforts expanded significantly the company’s avocado operation. Limoneira is now one of the largest avocado grower in the state.
But perhaps the biggest legacy is his family. His whole family of twelve children (Ester, Rosa, Consuelo, Sara, Francisco, Maria, Jorge, Jose, Tomas Jr., Carlos, Yolanda, Lucy) and his wife worked at Limoneira at one time or another as youths or full time. His daughter, Connie, calculated that the family has worked over 200 collective years for the company. That is not counting various in-laws who also worked for Limoneira.
Al Guilin, past executive vice president said, that “Tomas and his family and similar loyal and hardworking employees are one part of the Limoneira Company’s longevity and success.”
Tomas, now 87 years old, is retired and lives on a farm with his son and continues to tend his vegetable garden and provide counsel and direction to his twelve children, forty-one grand children and twenty-one great grandchildren. On Sundays he attends church at Our Lady of Guadalupe accompanied by many of his of family members and friends. And he also is more than willing to sit and talk about his many experiences to those who visit him.
Tomas and his family typify the hard working people who have made outstanding contributions to the community and part of the workforce that the annual Labor Day parade is designed to honor.
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