Juvenal Hernandez, 76 of King City passed away on Sunday, January 17, 2016. He was born in Las Crucitas, Gunajuato, Mexico.

Juvenal had worked his entire life as a businessman in agriculture. He was a hard worker and an ambitious man. He dedicated his life to his wife and children. He always provided for them. He loved singing and music.

We will miss you "Pa". We are forever grateful, for what you have done for us, and for all the advice and learning you gave to us. We will always remember your stories, humor and laughter. You can finally rest in peace. We will always and forever carry you in our hearts and memories. We love you.

Juvenal leaves behind his wife, Maria V. Hernandez; his three daughters, Maria Hernandez, Veronica Hernandez, and Janet Hernandez; seven sons, Efrain Hernandez, Gustavo Hernandez, Rene Hernandez, Oscar Hernandez, Israel Hernandez, Sergio Hernandez and Ivan Hernandez. He also leaves twenty-one grandchildren and two great grandchildren as well as four sisters and three brothers.

Additional Submitted by Family:

Real-World Life Lessons: Teachings From a Father
On Wednesday morning, January 20, 2016, I took a drive to clear my mind
and reflect on our dad's (Juvenal Hernandez) passing away. As I drove
down the 101 freeway from King City to Monterey, all I could see were
fields after fields. I could not help but to think about our dad. The struggles
he went through. The lessons and experiences he taught us. So many
memories growing up in the Salinas Valley.

As a child, our dad was raised to work hard. He worked on a ranch in Las
Crucitas, Guanajuato, Mexico to make a living to help support his family. As
a young adult, he joined the Bracero Program in the early 60's working as a
guest laborer worker in the United States. A skill that takes a strong and
unique person to do. My dad excelled in it, and he loved it. When he
moved to this country, he too raised us to work in the fields and help
support our family.

Our Dad's way of teaching us was the same way that he was taught as a
child, by doing.

At no point in our lives did dad give us a written exam on how to be an
adult, No!
Growing up, in our family from childhood to adulthood was a fast process.

As a child, our dad would take us to the fields, hand us a pair of gloves, a
wire full of rubber bands, tied it around our hips, and with a stern voice
would say, "Mira cómo lo hago, ahora hazlo tú."
•
My father was an excellent teacher and had the best lessons. His lessons
consisted of hands-on experience or what we call in the educational field
"Project Based Learning." This is the best way any child learns and never
forgets. Just like any good teacher he was building on those lesson for the
future.

Learning by doing, it was an ingenious idea to raise us. We learned it and
became better at it every time. Our family was very competitive; we would
pride ourselves in seeing who worked the most and earned the most
money in a day to make our dad proud.
As a child, I'd begged, and cried to my dad to take me to the fields. Arriving
in the fields every morning felt like a magical place. I felt I belonged to the
grown up world.
I remember those days that no matter what the season or weather it was,
we'd be out there working alongside our dad. Not to mention vacations,
weekends and after schools days.
I loved being there with our dad. It was an informational place where adults
would talk about grown up things, and I'd be able to hang out with our dad
in his truck and pretend to be the boss.

Who knew we were learning, no idea dad was teaching us real life skills.
For example: how to run a business, responsibility, respect, time
management, budgeting, leadership skills, and how to be independent.

Dad would model work duties to make sure all his children knew how to do
the job right. Our dad would always have some reward for the hard work
we put in. For example as a child, even though my job was playing in the
fields and helping my mother with work duties. He would say, "Yo te voy a
mostrar cómo hacer este tipo de trabajo. Vamos a ahorrar suficiente dinero
para tener ese juguete que quieres . Tal vez un poco de dinero extra para
comprar algo de la Cucaracha (snack truck)".

• Our family knew if we wanted to buy something expensive, then that meant
we'd needed to work twice as hard in the fields to earn it. To my dad
having the basic human needs were more important than a He-Man
figurine.

Do you remember when we were kids and you had to learn new job skills in
the fields, like tying cauliflower, picking tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, cutting
garlic, working on the grapes, etc.
Do you also remember when dad would teach you and you had to learn it!
It was like he was graduating us from job to job, and helping us build our
resume.

This hard work ethic that our dad taught us, we learned first hand, from
these essential lessons, he prepped us for the real world.

When we learned something new, no matter if it was related to agriculture,
fixing a car, welding, building or fixing something at home, we were excited.
Especially if we did it right. When we hear our father say " Mira si save, no
es tonto" we would smile ear to ear and have high egos.

You have to know that there are ten of us in the family; the competition to
get our father's attention was intense.

Dad's creative lessons and leadership skills were evident as we were
growing up.

Let us celebrate those lessons that our dad has taught us. These lessons
had real life meaning; they will be with us for the rest of our lives. Forever!
Dad gave us the tools to use in the real world and now it's our job to pass
them on to our children.

Every time that I visit King City, CA and travel through the 101 freeway, I
will forever remember our dad and cherish those experiences we learned
from him.