Guadalupe Pena Fernandez

Guadalupe Peña Fernandez, Sr. (Lupe) has gone fishing.
Beloved Husband, father, brother, and “Grandpa Lupe” to sixteen. The king of mischief and storytelling, aka “Uncle Ricky” (Uncle Lupe’s twin brother), master home gardener, business owner, fishermen extraordinaire, and a friend to all – passed away peacefully on Monday, August 30, 2021, at age 66.
Born December 12, 1954, to Salvador and Jennie Fernandez, Lupe was a longtime resident and business owner in the Clovis, Fresno, and Tulare areas. Lupe had an incredible talent for making memories, making others laugh, and telling an elaborate story. He enjoyed large slices of lemon meringue pie, with a scoop of pineapple and coconut ice cream and a glass of milk or iced tea. He always had a passion for aquariums full of different types of fish - as many tanks as he could possibly get his hands on, and the bigger the better. He was the master home gardener; he could make a stick grow and actually won a bet with our aunt doing this exact thing. She bet him he couldn’t make a cutting from a tree grow. It grew.
By all accounts, he was always the overachiever. By the age of 26, he had four children, owned two houses, and was the owner of a Winchell’s Donut House franchise in Clovis, CA - but he didn’t stop there. In 1981, Lupe left Winchell’s and ventured out on his own and opened three Sal’s Donut House locations in Selma, Dinuba, and Reedley. He would affectionately say, “Time to make the donuts!” What they don’t tell you about small business ownership, is Lupe would get up each morning at 2:00 AM to, drive forty-five minutes (kids in tow) through the valley fog to make the donuts, open his shops, greet customers, and drive his kids back to Clovis for school… just to wake up the next day and do it all again. Somehow, he still found the energy to play soccer and pitch for the Heavy Metal fastpitch softball team.
Lupe closed the last of his donut shops in 1990 and was off to his next venture. Over the remaining work years, he formed C&F Maintenance company where he took on apartment and house maintenance. He acquired rental properties and managed properties up until his retirement.
As a dad, he taught common sense, life skills, and was our own personal coach. Dad had us working in the yard, working at the donut shops, and working in the house. He basically had his own work crew. However, he never did end up teaching Marie how to say her last name. Marie was about 10 years old and asked dad, “Dad how do you say our last name, is it FernanDEZZZ or FernanDESSS?,” to which he replied, “you're a donkey if you don't know how to say your own name!” As kids we rolled around laughing and still laugh when we think of that moment. Then, we would usually call Marie a donkey and tell her, “you know, it was because dad didn't know how to say it either,” and then we would laugh some more. As a coach, he interacted with his kids as well as hundreds of their teammates. To this day, the players from years ago will still ask how he is doing. It’s wonderful when people share stories of how he helped them through a challenge in their life. Dad was also the handyman fix-it-all, but if you worked with him he would typically make you do all the work. He might promise to paint your house, but mostly likely Lupe Jr and Chris were coming to paint your house.
Lupe met the love of his life, the beautiful Dora Fernandez, in June of 1996 and was married for over twenty-years. The story goes that when Lupe first saw Dora and asked her to dance, she had to say no because Bonnie and Marissa would not get off her lap. Lupe was persistent and would persevere as he did win Dora over. Showing up on their first date looking handsome and still in his work clothes, and driving her around in his maroon van with the Fresno summer heat and no AC… all the while with his mom, Jennie. Looking back on it we can laugh and appreciate how such a fun moment built a lifetime of love and family. Lupe built Dora their forever home in Tulare where they loved to garden together and enjoy their time with the grandkids.
Lupe’s favorite people called him Grandpa. He was essentially a big kid himself, but when Lupe was promoted to ”Grandpa Lupe” with Avery and Elisa, his world forever changed. Lupe always told the story of when he was filling up his fish tank with a garden hose in the house. Avery got a hold of the hose and was chasing him around the house with it. Lupe was yelling, “You better stop it!” Avery did not care, Marissa was cheering him on, and Lupe was shouting, “Are you done? Are you done? God Dammit!” Everyone laughed and, of course, Avery never got in trouble. When Elisa was small she was the only one that could get away with picking every flower from his garden to make him little arrangements and he loved it.
He will be remembered for all his affection and dedication, taking the kids just about anywhere they wanted to go: Costco to eat samples, rides in the cart around the Home Depot, the movies, Grizzly games, trips to the coast, Disneyland, baseball with Aiden, and fishing. He attended almost all of their sports games: soccer, basketball, volleyball, cross country, and football. All of this while trying to save a buck by teaching them to lie about their ages saying, “Watson we’re going to the ball game, how old are you?” - “I’m two!” The grandkids will still tell you they’re 2 years old when we know darn well they are like 15. Grandpa would always say, “Little Watson you don’t know how to talk?”... that was Little Watson and grandpa’s special thing. Lupe was the epitome of “Pick up the Grandkids, Spoil Them, Load with Sugar,” but he never wanted to send them home. They would stay forever with Grandpa Lupe - who knew everything, had a story for everything, and if he didn’t know, he would make it up really fast.
Grandpa Lupe was amazing at building memories and his favorite way was going fishing with the family. He knew that fishing wasn’t about catching fish, but rather making memories, spending time together, talking, sharing, and laughing. Sometimes it was even a competition over who could get stuck the worst. For being a baseball pitcher, Grandpa Lupe would throw some terrible casts into the trees and make LJ and Bryce almost fall out of the boat laughing. He would tell the kids, “Low and slow, you’ve got to be on the bottom, and leave it there.” Before his passing, he shared with the grandkids his super secret for catching fish so they can pass that knowledge on to their own children one day. Lupe got it right, he understood the value in relationships and in spending time with whomever it was - sharing and teaching those that were willing to listen.
Throughout Covid with the schools shut down, Lupe watched the kids: Brandon, Harley, Malia, Gabriel, Jaylen, Layla, and Emma. He loved piling them in his truck (if Dora was there he would have to make two trips), sitting on each other and taking them down the street for their free lunch. Lupe never missed a free lunch. He made friends with the lunch ladies and would come back with a couple lunches for himself and would sit with the kids drinking his juice box and eating his little bag of carrots.
Most recently, Calvin and Ezra were born and Lupe was shouting, “I won, I won.. I didn't think it would ever happen!” When asked what he won, Lupe said, “Dora and I each had 7, BUT NOW I have 9 (grandkids) and now we need to make more room on the fence for their names.” Each day he would look forward to getting his photos and videos of the babies. Lupe can rest easy knowing he got the final win.
If you knew our dad, you know he loved to wear his jeans and t-shirts everywhere he went, and when you join the family to celebrate his life, please don’t forget to wear your t-shirt and jeans in remembrance of Lupe. If you have a little paint on them, caulking or even a hole or two, all the better but please no black, this is a celebration.
Thanks for everything Dad. Love, the Fernandez Kids.
Lupe is preceded in death by his parents, Salvador and Jennie Fernandez. Lupe is survived by: his loving wife Dora Fernandez; six siblings - Rosemary Sambrano, Esther Ibarra, Salvador Fernandez Jr., Juana Rivera, Francisco Fernandez, and Rachael Fernandez; and six children - Guadalupe (Angela) Fernandez Jr., April Fernandez, Christopher Fernandez, Marie (Shaun) Staggs, Bonnie (JR Mendoza) Trujillo, and Marissa (Gerry Garcia) Trujillo. Lupe’s sixteen grandchildren: Avery Seabolt, Elisa Fernandez, LJ Fernandez, Jarrett Watson, Brandon Rojas, Bryce Fernandez, Gabriel Mendoza, Madison Watson, Jaylen Mendoza, Aiden Fernandez, Layla Mendoza, Emma Mendoza, Harley Garcia, Malia Garcia, Calvin Fernandez McBride, Ezra Fernandez McBride.