Mostly Clear, 47° F
(May 30, 2002)
Jesus Urbina Ramirez, 77, died May 30 at the Powell Nursing Home.
He was born on Feb. 5, 1925 in Needles, Calif., to Asencion Trujilo and Consepsion Urbina Ramirez, the first of several children. Early in his life he came to be called Jesse.
His first years were spent in the Long Beach area as his father traveled in southern California building railroads for the Santa Fe Line. The family returned to their home in Juarez, Mexico in 1929.
He attended school in Juarez, focusing on the correct use of the Spanish language, an interest that would follow him the rest of his life. During his school years he worked as a dental assistant and though he had hopes of an advanced education instead accepted the responsibility of helping care for his brothers and sisters.
He married Guadalupe Rocha Augilar in April 1944 in Juarez.
In 1945, they moved to Powell to be close to his grandmother and aunt. He began as a farm worker and later worked for 37 years on the Central Burlington Railroad, which at the time used coal burning engines. They had four children, Maria, Armando, Ramon and Evangelina.
One day he was approached by a Jehovah's Witness asking him to teach him Spanish. Thus began his association with the local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in the company of his wife.
He is survived by his wife Guadalupe of Powell; sons Armando of Texas and Ramon of Cody; daughter Evangelina Rodreguiz of Billings, Mont.; 14 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Maria Segura.
