Victor A. Pena (my dad: the man, the legend, the Marine)

Victor A. Pena (my dad: the man, the legend, the Marine)

As a father, brother, uncle, cousin, and husband to my mom, my father was a great man with a great disposition, and he was loyal and honest. He was a loving family man and loved his family! He was also a happy-go-lucky kind of man who had a great sense of humor; he told a few jokes and had a lot of stories to tell about the military and his truck driving days. He served in the Marine Corps from 17 until he was 30 years old. He drove a military truck while he was in there. He drove for 25+ years in three different truck driving jobs after he got out of the service; he was also a security guard for many places after that. He had gone to his Legion meetings every second Tuesday of the month. He got along with everyone there. He had to stop going because of his dementia. He has always been a hard-working man up until he couldn't work anymore, because he was diagnosed with dementia and diabetes. It progressed to Alzheimer's in 2014. I had to take care of him full-time. The only thing he seemed to remember was the past and not current things going on, and didn't know the time or day or even year. He also forgot where he lived. Thank goodness, he didn't forget my name and his immediate family's names. He would remember your name if he saw you on a daily basis, otherwise not.
In the years ahead, his health started to decline. This year, in 2018, he had a really bad kidney failure and needed to have a catheter, and his back problems worsened, and so did his legs. His weight was going down and it was progressing fast. From April until last month in October, his health was getting bad and he was having to have his home health-care nurses take care of him also. Then he spent five days in the hospice and he even got worse. He came home and it was like he was in a vegetative state of mind. He was not comprehending anything I was saying and wasn't talking to me.
On Oct. 3, he passed away in the morning. R.I.P. Dad. Love you always, and I think of you every day.