El señor José Víctor Huambachano La Rosa, Isabel’s father,  passed away three nights ago in a hospital near Miraflores, Lima, Peru, following a long illness, including COVID and pneumonia and their after-effects. He was 91. These photos show how forever kind and devoted his son, Pepe, has been through it all. He has taken care of his father for many years, trying to keep him entertained, clean, well-nourished, healthy, and as happy as he could be with his deteriorating condition. In the house where Pepe lived with his father and his brother, he is now all alone.  We are in the process in Peru of putting together a funeral service and trying to get a burial plot.  He was a greatly respected man in the town of San Bartolo which was founded by Pepe’s grandfather over a century ago. Don José, who designed many buildings and San Bartolo landmarks (sculptures and public sites), will be missed.

Don Jose Huambachano lies in his casket, not in a funeral home, but in his own living room as is the more common custom in Perú. Pepe is now alone and sleeping on a couch near the casket which is simultaneously freaking him out and reassuring him as he does what he perceives he ‘owes’ his father. A form of respect and a way to stretch out the goodbye for as long as possible. He will be buried on Saturday. A priest has come to perform a ceremony and people come from the town little by little to express their condolences. Must wisely do so on the front patio to protect from COVID.  

The mayor has communicated that the municipal government will be putting up a plaque near the archway structure that don José designed at the entrance of San Bartolo. Anyone entering the town for decades has passed under it. Others are talking of renaming a park or street in his honor. The flower wreath on the right was sent by Quilla, and the one to the back is ours.