Obituaries

Entered into rest on December 17th, 2021 in Visalia, CA at the age of 86. He is survived by his wife of 67 years Esperanza “Hope” Camarena; his children: Tony Camarena Jr. and his wife Nova, John Camarena Sr. and his wife Emma, Susie Orozco and her husband Jeff Sr., Robert Camarena Sr. and his wife Annette, Paul Camarena Sr. and his wife Anna, and Christina Castro and her husband Jose; his grandchildren: Rebecca, Analicia, Alex, Elysha, Andrea, Monica, Antoinette, Marquita, Antonio, Philip, John, Jerome, Jennifer, Robert, Joseph, Xavier, Michael, Ericka, Katherine, Dominique, Richard, Jeffrey, Lauren, Paul Jr, Josephine, Matthew, Elizabeth, Alexandra, Claudette, and Cassandra; 52 great-grandchildren; and 5 great-great grandchildren. He is also survived by his son-in-law Alex Cruz, and siblings: Armando (Eddie), Mary, Delia, Patricia, Juanita (Jenny), Victoria, Victor, Ignascio (Bob), and Juan (John). He is preceded in death by his daughters: Patricia Cruz in 2019 and Mary Camarena in 2020.

Born on May 10th, 1935 in Wichita, KS, Tony was the eldest of 10 children to Francisco and Valentina Camarena. Anthony married Lorenza Esperanza Duron in 1954 at Holy Family Church in San Jose, CA. Over the years Tony worked as an orderly at Agnews State Hospital in Santa Clara, at a cannery, and as a garbage man for the City of San Jose. He retired in May of 1995 as a bus driver for the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (Badge #0178) after 21 years of service. He coached various teams while his sons played baseball in San Jose from little league teams to adult. He wore jersey #1 while coaching & managing the Aztecas team which was a part of the Mexican American Men’s Softball League.