John Dale Cazares

John Dale Cazares was born on June 4, 1965. He was the only son to Israel and Stella Cazares. He was the middle child with two older sisters, Cindy and Ruby, and two younger sisters, Diana and Linda. He had sixteen nieces and nephews, thirteen grand-nieces and nephews, and three brother-in-laws, John, Angelo, and Dan.

He was a happy and energetic child. He enjoyed family outings, picnics and fishing with his immediate and large extended family. For the most part, he was normal and average. And then one day, he wasn’t. No one can remember at what age exactly, John was labeled as gifted in school. Looking back, there were signs. His deep interest in science fiction shows and movies. His love of reading the classics and poetry. His favorite authors were John Steinbeck and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His favorite poem was “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. His favorite show was Star Trek. The song he related to most was “Seasons in the Sun”.

As time passed, his intelligence and brilliance grew. He had an insatiable curiosity and a passion to learn. Socially, he was an introvert, but he wasn’t shy around his family. He was open and caring and loved to play board and card games.

His favorite childhood memories were those he spent with family in Tranquillity, lying on his back on the hood of a car or on the lawn, staring up at the sky, listening to oldies or just talking. Studying the stars at night, and the clouds during the day. His love for astronomy was born back then. He loved reading comic books with Uncle Louie and sneaking into the living room late at night to watch Creature Feature and other late night shows.

He was valedictorian of his elementary school in Tranquillity, and graduated from Tranquillity High School in 3 years. He attended Fresno State University and graduated in 1998 with degrees in Mathematics and Science with an emphasis in Physics.

John never set out to gain individual recognition. He was humble and kind. He received numerous awards for his scholastic achievements, but he had his quirks. He didn’t learn to drive until he was 33 years old. He sometimes couldn’t tell his left from his right, and had trouble adding single digit numbers.

He worked while going to college. He dabbled in retail and tutored. He even went to Santa school and was back-up for the real Santa. After he graduated from Fresno State, he started his teaching career.

Though John was a big Star Trek fan and die-hard “Trekkie”, he was a devoted Catholic. Religion, faith and his love for family were the core of who he was. He was a big influence on his many nieces and nephews. He had a deep love and unique relationship with each one, and he will always have a special place in their hearts.

The only thing that surpassed his genius was his sincere personality. He had a great sense of humor and encouraged his family to follow their dreams. He would do anything to cheer us up and was quite the little jokester. Once he was on a roll, he could not contain his laughter and he giggled with his entire body. We shared the kind of laughs that would end in tears and gasps for air. His sense of humor was one of his most enjoyable qualities.

John was gentle and generous. He was strong and stubborn. He had many secrets and when we asked him to share, he would raise one eyebrow and smirk. He never told. We were blessed to call him son, brother, and uncle.

John Dale Cazares died on March 27, 2016, Easter morning, at the age of 50. With him goes the Cazares name and a big part of our hearts. Live eternal and prosper in Heaven.