A family is devastated by two decisions just weeks after their patriarch made the ultimate sacrifice.
The family of 55-year-old Juan Andrade is considering where to bury their beloved husband and father after he died while saving their son in a Lincoln Park lake on April 14. And they’re also trying to figure out how to move on without him.
Juan, a servant and cook, wades into the lake to rescue his 14-year-old autistic son, Kevin. According to Juan’s wife Michelle, the teen went into the water while his father was talking on the phone with his brother in Michoacán, Mexico.
Michelle, 44, said Juan kept his son afloat long enough for a bystander to pull Kevin out of the water relatively safely.
However, the boy’s father never resurfaced, leading his wife to believe he was trapped at the lake’s fountain. Rescue workers pulled her body from the water after half an hour and took her to Los Angeles General Medical Center, where Michelle works on an overnight cleanup crew.
“He asked me to wait for him in a room where most visitors are told their family members have died or been badly injured,” Mitchell said. “That’s when I found out he died.”
Her husband was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
The medical examiner’s office said the cause and manner of death are still under investigation, which has been declared “concluded.” This usually means the department is requesting additional testing or studies.
Adjourned cases may take a few months.
“We are devastated because he meant everything to us,” Michelle said. “He was a good father, a good husband and he always showed he loved us.”
The family is organizing a private event on Tuesday. They are not disclosing the location or time, wanting to keep the memorial as small and family-focused as possible.
That might have been the easiest decision.
Michelle, Kevin and daughters Ruby, 16, and Esmeralda, 17, must now decide where to keep him.
One option is to bury Juan in Kennewick, Washington, where his mother is urging his return. Juan, who was a field worker at the time and a cook at a Chinese restaurant, wooed and married Michelle, who was a Lowe’s cashier at the time, after they met in 2008.
Michelle has also considered returning her husband’s body to Michoacán to be with her younger brother, who died at the age of 7 due to heart problems, whom she often spoke of missing greatly.
Ruby Andrade holds up her phone to show a photo of her father Juan.
(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)
Then, the other option is the Eastside, not far from where Michelle lives and the family moved there in 2020 at the suggestion of Kevin’s sister-in-law for advanced therapeutic services.
“Kevin was unresponsive and difficult to communicate with,” his mother said, “and his opportunities were better here.”
Kevin can now put words together and has improved understanding between him and family members after years of behavior and speech therapy supported by Applied Behavioral Analysis. science of learning and behavior.
“Part of the decision about where to bury him is about money and if we will have enough money to see him, embalm his body and send him to Washington or Mexico,” Mitchell said.
His niece, Elizabeth Silva, created an online fundraising campaign to help. About $22,000 has been donated By Friday morning.
The toughest test, however, is how to best honor the memory of the man who was at the center of the Andrade family.
For daughter Ruby, her father was a patient and loving person.
Six years ago, when she was just 10 years old, Ruby figured out how to log into the family’s Amazon account and enjoyed an early Christmas for herself, ordering about $800 worth of merchandise, including clothes and toys, which was shipped to their Lincoln Heights home without her parents’ permission.
“His salary at the time was only about $1,000,” she recalled laughing, holding back tears. “But he didn’t get angry and never returned anything and instead told me ‘My money is yours.’ He was that type of person.”
For Esmeralda, her father was a man who “made amazing corn tortillas”, kept her close at night and always spoke words of encouragement.
“They made us feel special and important,” he said. “It’s hard not to have her around and therapy is not the same as a hug or someone saying, ‘I love you.’
One morning in April, a bleary-eyed Michelle fell into bed fully dressed after completing her grueling shift from 11 pm to 7:30 am.
That was until her husband gently took off her glasses and shoes and placed a blanket over her. Within minutes, she said, she dozed off.
She was also busy in the evenings for Juan, she recalled, which included cooking tacos for the kids, cleaning the kitchen, and reading and talking with Kevin.
“He always put his family first,” Mitchell said. “He was so sweet and I don’t know how we’ll live without him.”
