Brawley resident celebrates a century of life

BRAWLEY — East side Brawley local and self-sufficient centenarian, Gregorio Nuñez, celebrated a legacy of hard work, dedication to God, and 100 years of “the American dream” in the making at Las Chabelas restaurant earlier this fall season surrounded by over 200 binational friends and five generations of family.

Born just outside of Guadalajara, Mexico in Santa Fe, Jalisco on August 21, 1923, Nuñez began life across the border as the youngest of six children. He called deep south Mexico home for the first quarter of his life and still has the old-style handwritten birth certificate to prove it. At the age of 26, Nuñez migrated to the United States as a labor recruit under the Bracero Program in 1948. He has recounted memories of his birth country fondly to family members over the years, with some recalling stories of him walking barefoot into town for groceries “so his shoes wouldn’t wear out”.

According to grandson Daniel Nuñez, he has worked most of his life in agriculture and garnered a reputation for having an “unmatched work ethic” that eventually resulted in a local farming family sponsoring his United States citizenship.

“My dad has always been a very hard worker”, said son Gregorio Nuñez Jr. From operating tractors and irrigating fields, to later owning his own trucking company, he has amassed massive respect across the board for working rain or shine and “well into his nineties”.

The family says they have lived on Brawley’s historically Latino east side all their lives, noting that the valley has always had a special place in Nuñez’s heart since it’s the place where he met his wife, Augustine Taffolla, whom he married in 1951. “Brawley’s home,” said Daniel, adding that the Nuñez Family has occupied the same house since the early 70s after a short stint living “out in the country”. Nuñez was officially naturalized in 1979.

The family traveled often, following picking seasons and spending time up north. Nuñez’s son, Ernest, remembers him working straight through the summers without fail and says his father is equally as “devoted” to his religious practice. Having served as an altar boy in Mexico and donated his time there to helping church members and the sick, Nuñez has carried his faith forward with him into the present day, and is known for hosting “a daily rosary at his home Monday through Friday” and for showing up to church every Sunday “dressed in black like Johnny Cash”, said Ernest.

In fact, even his proudest moment is faith-related. After attending a church on B Street near Oakley Elementary School for some time, he dedicated his life to caring for and attempting to save the building that housed the congregation he loved so dearly. Just before his 90th birthday, Nuñez fell ill one July afternoon after tending to the dirt and dying grass that swallowed up the run-down lot landing him in the hospital sick for 30 days. Battling breathing and heart complications, he “asked God to allow him more time, and that if He did my dad would be grateful,” said Ernest.

As it happened, Nuñez was discharged two days before his birthday, and in celebration of his prayers being heard the family decided to throw a huge party that they would never forget. Nuñez spoke of loved ones counting down the hours until his actual birthday as they all stayed up well past midnight in celebration of family and the miracle of life. Although the church was demolished in the end, the experience marked a “pivotal moment” for him, said Nuñez.

“He’s seen a lot in those one hundred years”, said Ernest, in awe of a lifetime of accomplishments and his father’s enduring vitality. “He’s an inspiration to me.”

Ernest said that for a “5”7’ guy”, he only recently noticed his father has unusually large hands—a trait which he attributes to a century of manual labor. On his now-wrinkled hands, Nuñez still wears his wedding ring despite his wife having passed over a decade ago. It had become “egg-shaped” from years of hard work, said Earnest, who had the ring “straightened out” recently as a thank-you to his father.

Nuñez is an active individual to this day, walking without assistance and advocating for his independence. “If he could drive again he would probably still be driving,” said Ernest. “We had to actually take his keys away from him because he can get too brave and it’s dangerous”, added Daniel. The two say the centenarian still mows his own lawn, and has only recently given up his side gig of mowing lawns for others. The man has survived several economic recessions and remains untouched by COVID.

When asked how he did it, Nuñez jokes that he swears by VapoRub. Ernest and Daniel laugh at his unconventional method of “eating it”, but can’t deny that he did something right. To this day, Nuñez can be seen riding his tricycle anywhere east of the train tracks, making friends from all walks of life wherever he goes.

His advice to anyone attempting to hunker down until one hundred is to be discerning about what is “good and bad” and to choose to do what is right every day. “Even if you do wrong, you must go back to doing it right,” said Nuñez, who warned about “doing things in excess” especially.

Nuñez said that although he is living on “borrowed time”, should he live a little bit longer he would like to fix his papers and visit Mexico “just one more time”. “Life is short,” he said.

Nuñez was recognized at a special mass held at Sacred Heart Church in early October, and the family has submitted a bid on behalf of the patriarch to be the namesake of one of the streets being built in the new east-side housing division just off of Malan Street.

“It was a once in a century kind of thing,” said Daniel, of his grandfather’s most recent birthday bash. “We are grateful for sure. Not everyone makes it this far and we just want to honor him.”

Sarina E. Guerra

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