Guillermo Hector Daniel

Guillermo Hector Daniel was born to Dolores Gandarilla Daniel and Victor Hurtado Daniel on January 20th, 1950. He left us on July 17th, 2016. Guillermo (aka Billy) was an artist, who created gorgeously detailed leather artwork using only a magnifying glass and the light of the sun. He carved wood, used pencils, pens, tattoo machines — whatever he had at hand when inspiration struck. Though he never referred to himself as a poet, anyone who ever had a conversation or received a letter from him knows that he spun words into gold.

Guillermo was one of the most authentic people to walk the earth. You would have recognized him by his slow, deliberate stride and the dime in his ear. He preferred sleeping beneath the night sky to paying a mortgage. He would rather make a true enemy than have a fake friend. He greeted each individual he encountered with sincere interest.  He also tested people’s patience like it was his full-time job, poking and prodding metaphorically and literally. His true vocation, you see, was to get at the truth and essence of every person he came into contact with. Everything a person did meant something to him, it was all telling; he closely studied the human heart. 

Guillermo never felt obliged to follow rules or meet anyone’s expectations. There was and is only one authority he acknowledged and honored, that of his Savior, his teacher, his best friend, his guide, Jesus Christ. Guillermo knew that he fell short in many ways, as we all do, and he knew that Jesus loved him anyway, constantly. He shared that love with all of his being. Guillermo desired nothing so much as reunion with God.

Guillermo is preceded in death by his mother, Dolores, his two brothers, Jess and Victor, and his nephew Jess Jr. He has family remaining here on earth who miss and love him: his father, Victor; daughter, Dolores Zoila Daniel; granddaughters, Dominique and Isabelle; lifelong friend, Martha Sadler; former wife, Lydia Daniel; sisters Veita, Irene and Stella Daniel (Ruben), and Delena Jo Romero (Sal); eleven nieces and nephews, and his beloved great nephew Aiden Vazquez.

Please join us at Garcia’s mortuary, 629 A Street in Oxnard, on Sunday, July 31st at 1:00 p.m. to celebrate Guillermo’s life and share memories of him.