Jose Luis Escobar

José Luis Escobar, age 78, passed away after a long illness on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. He was born August 25, 1938, in Manati, Puerto Rico to Manuel Escobar Menendez and Serundina Rodriguez Ruiz. When he was well, he liked to sit and listen to the waterfalls, perhaps they reminded him of home and his time in Puerto Rico. José is survived by his wife, Velli Escobar, his son, Alan Escobar, and his wife, Tiffany Escobar, and grandson, Logan Escobar. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 30, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 10900 SW 24th Ave. in Gainesville, Florida with Father Kazimierz Ligeza as celebrant. Thirty minutes before the service there will be a private viewing by immediate family only. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Queen of Peace Catholic Church. I often wondered “what if” when it came to my father. Perhaps it was the words of Kipling echoing in my thoughts; as if he had read them to me all those years ago by the waterfalls. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Jose Luis Escobar

August 25, 1938 - May 24, 2017