A00012 - Tio Feco y El Rey
A little over a week ago, there was the notice of the passing of "El Rey", Vicente Fernandez
I probably would have not paid much attention to this obituary, except that this notice reminded me of Felix Diaz, Tio Feco (see the email below). I actually attended the memorial service for Felix Diaz. I intended to speak but before I could get up to tell my high jump story, one of my Bell View Heights neighbors got up and told a story that dwarfed my own. My Bell View Heights neighbor happened to be one of the best basketball players in the history of Victor Valley Senior High School. However, his older brother was arguably the best. To the best of my knowledge, Victorville has produced only one professional basketball player, and that was his brother. The two brothers starred at VVHS during the mid-1960s and everyone in the neighborhood idolized them.
My Bell View Heights neighbor said that he felt compelled to speak because Felix Diaz had spoken at his father's memorial service, at his mother's memorial service, ... and at his brother's memorial service ... the same brother who played for one year in the NBA. Felix spoke at each of these memorial services because he was a close friend of the family. In the 1950s, when he met my neighbor's father, and learned that he was born on Veteran's Day, the patriotic Uncle Feco -- Tio Feco -- made a point of sending my neighbor's father a birthday card in celebration of the day and his birth. He sent a card to him every year for the next 42 years. My neighbor recounted how Felix Diaz would often have his entire family over for dinner, and these fellow barrio boys would eat their fill. During the heyday of their high school basketball career, Felix Diaz surprised the two basketball stars by driving their parents the 90 miles to the God forsaken town of Ridgrecrest (trust me it is more remote than Victorville) just so their parents could see them play. Uncle Feco made no distinctions based on color... we were all from across the railroad tracks and that made us brothers.
The passing of Vicente Fernandez reminded me of Felix Diaz because, at his memorial service, I learned for the first time that Felix Diaz had his own mariachi band and that singing such music was one of the passions of his life. Thus, while listening to the operatic machismo of Vicente Fernandez's A Mi Manero
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_BRjGi3L8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_BRjGi3L8
or the heartbreak of his Por Tu Maldito Amor
or the sentimental longing of his Volver, Volver
I found myself hearing a bit of Tio Feco in El Rey, and smiling at the memory.
Peace,
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Class of 1975
-----Original Message-----
From: skipjen2865@aol.com
To:
Sent: Wed, Oct 20, 2021 4:32 am
Subject: Felix Diaz, R.I.P.
From: skipjen2865@aol.com
To:
Sent: Wed, Oct 20, 2021 4:32 am
Subject: Felix Diaz, R.I.P.
This past weekend I attended my 50 Year High School Reunion in Victorville, California. It was a great event which afforded me the opportunity to chat with friends, some of who go as far back as 1959 when I was in first grade at Eva Dell Elementary School. The reunion was unique in that we celebrated with the Class of 1970. Because of COVID, the Class of 1970 was not able to have their reunion last year, so the organizers for both classes got together and had a joint reunion.
One of the highlights of this joint reunion was that I got to dance ... something I never did while in high school. And one of the great accomplishments was that I got the opportunity to dance with one of the prettiest and brightest girls from the Class of 1970. God is good, very good indeed.
After the dance, I began to make my rounds to say my final goodbyes. After all, sadly, this might be the last time I would see some of these folks so I wanted to give those I knew one last hug. Just as I was about to exit, it was announced that Felix Diaz, a beloved teacher and community leader had passed away that very night.
The barrio that Felix Diaz emerged from is the same barrio where I graduated from elementary school in 1965.
In many ways, we came from the same roots ... with many of the same values. The following is an article that explains more profoundly Felix Diaz's philosophy.
Obviously, Felix Diaz was a good, decent man who mentored many during his long life. One of those he mentored happened to be me. Felix "Uncle Feco" Diaz was my high jump coach in 1969 (my first year in high school) when I first learned how to do the "Western roll". Thanks to Uncle Feco, I learned how to do the Western roll well enough to set the "Class C" High Jump record at Victor Valley High School, my first and only significant athletic achievement. However, in learning the Western roll, Uncle Feco taught a philosophy that I have carried with me to this day. He would tell us to aim at leaping three inches above the bar. An amazing concept which seems to defy logic but which actually tended to work. Later in life, I came to adopt this as my high jump philosophy of life. Aim higher than you actually anticipate needing to achieve.
Later in life, I became aware of a Chinese proverb with the same philosophy: "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will still be among the stars."
I thank Felix Diaz for teaching me this lesson ... and I thank him for helping me to learn how to fly.
Peace,
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Amherst College Class of 1975
Victor Valley Senior High School Class of 1971
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