The type of guy that just really made you feel good when you were around him.
That’s one of the first descriptors of John Zuniga Gomez Jr. that comes up when his cousin, David Arocha, remembers the Mason City resident who passed away at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center in July at age 70 after complications from COVID-19.
To David, John was as much a friend as he was a family member. John was the type of guy who would take someone like David on their first trip to a riverboat casino to cut loose — but he was also entirely capable of just quietly sitting back and hearing other people out.
“If you had something you wanted to share, he would listen. He was a great listener,” Arocha said. “He could make you feel at home when you were around him. That is John. That’s describing John.”
Though John, the only son of Juan Gomez Sr. and Mary Zuniga, had left his native San Angelo, Texas, before the age of 25 to eventually work as a diesel mechanic at National Byproducts in Clinton, Iowa, he never lost his love for his home. His passion for the people and their traditions never dwindled.
Arocha said that John loved to eat. And like any gourmand from the Lone Star state, barbecue and Mexican food loomed large.
“Anything with barbecue, as long as it was from family,” David said. “The way to his heart was definitely through his stomach.”
John loved being around family, not only for the food, but for the camaraderie, as well. In fact, John cared for his family members so much that he took one of them as a child of his own.
“He had adopted my youngest sister and him and his wife Lois were just outstanding parents,” Arocha said. “He loved my sister to death. He took great pride in being a good dad.”
Because of the pandemic, Arocha said he wasn’t able to make the trek from west central Texas to Iowa for the funeral to say goodbye to John, who was buried in Clinton alongside his daughter Amanda Marie Gomez.
“I would’ve given anything to be there,” Arocha said. But he clings to the memories he has of John with as tight as grip as possible. He’s thankful he was able to make his way to Iowa to see his cousin while he was still alive. And he recognizes that this particular kind of loss is felt by so many others as well right now.
“I don’t know if I feel it’s comforting but you can feel people’s pain. You know what they’re going through when you see the stories.”
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