Los Gatos Canyon Air Disaster Victims Finally Honored & Remembered by Name

Perhaps you remember hearing the Woody Guthrie song “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos“. In fitting style, it recounts the stories of twenty eight migrant workers who perished in a plane crash and were anonymously buried.

All too late — but finally — these lost souls will be remembered by name with a historic re-dedication and memorial Mass, presided over by Bishop Armando Ochoa of the Diocese of Fresno. Fresno’s own KNXT television has compiled a great resource that shares much of the information about these men and women. KNXT has shared the following:

In 1948, a plane crash in a valley near Coalinga claimed the lives of 32 souls. Among the dead, 28 migrant workers who were laid to rest in Fresno’s Holy Cross Cemetery. A simple marker denotes the grave, the names of the migrants seemly lost to history. But then, the words of a popular song changed everything. “The airplane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon, A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,” Now those who perished will finally be honored by name, thanks to generous contributions from the valley and across the country. The community is invited to be a part of this historic re-dedication and memorial mass. Bishop Armando Ochoa will preside on Monday, September second at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, 2105 West Belmont Avenue in Fresno. For information about the re-dedication mass, call Catholic Cemeteries at (559) 488-7449.

This Mass and re-dedication by Bishop Ochoa on the morning of September 2, Labor Day, seems a fitting tribute to those who labored and will finally be known by name:

1. Miguel Negrete Alvarez
2. Francisco Llamas Durán
3. Santiago Garcia Elizondo
4. Rosalio Padilla Estrada
5. Tomás Aviña de Gracia
6. Bernabé López Garcia
7. Salvador Sandoval Hernández
8. Severo Medina Lara
9. Elias Trujillo Macias
10. José Rodriguez Macias
11. Tomás Padilla Márquez
12. Luis López Medina
13. Manuel Calderón Merino
14. Luis Cuevas Miranda
15. Martin Razo Navarro
16. Ignacio Pérez Navarro
17. Román Ochoa Ochoa
18. Ramón Ramirez Paredes
19. Apolonio Ramirez Placencia
20. Guadalupe Lara Ramirez
21. Alberto Carlos Raygoza
22. Guadalupe Hernández Rodriguez
23. Maria Santana Rodriguez
24. Juan Valenzuela Ruiz
25. Wenceslao Flores Ruiz
26. José Valdivia Sánchez
27. Jesús Meza Santos
28. Baldomero Marcas Torres

Members of the crew:
Francis “Frank” Atkinson, Long Beach, Pilot
Marion Harlow Ewing, Balboa, Co-Pilot
Lillian “Bobbie” Atkinson, Long Beach, Stewardess
Frank E. Chaffin, Berkeley, Immigration Guard