KRDO
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) Community members gathered in Bessemer Park Saturday to honor the life of late council member Ray Aguilera.
A celebration of life service was hosted by the city for Aguilera, who served on Pueblo s City Council for more than a decade as a representative of District 4, which includes Bessemer.
People close to Aguilera who attended the service told KRDO that he was a major advocate for the neighborhood and the park. They said he also helped people in need all across Pueblo through community events, fundraisers and projects.
During the Pueblo City Council regular session Monday evening, a moment of silence was held for Aguilera. He passed away surrounded by family on Sunday, May 9th. He was 78.
Ray Aguilera was sitting next to an elementary school student from Pueblo s Bessemer neighborhood at a Colorado Rockies baseball game when he gave him a few dollars to grab a hot dog from the concession stand.
It was his annual trip to Denver, when he chartered buses and brought dozens of students to a game as a reward for learning vocabulary, oftentimes exposing them to the delight of Coors Field and the state’s capital city for the first time: the smell of freshly cut grass, the aroma of stadium food and the tradition of the seventh inning stretch.
Friends say he relished the smiles on those children’s faces more than the game itself.