Family mourns loss of Moses Lake father, son

MOSES LAKE - Friends and family of Victor Aguilar and Victor Aguilar Rocha should have much to miss.

On the one hand you have a shy, reserved son who loved God and artwork.

On the other there's his father who spent his life working hard to support his family.

Both Moses Lake men died early Monday morning on Dodson Road 10 miles south of Ephrata.

The younger Victor, 19, had plans to enroll at Big Bend Community College the next day, his sister Maggie Aguilar said.

His dream was to become a pilot.

"He was funny, and loved to go to church," his 12-year-old sister Lupita Leal said. "He loved to read the Bible."

Faith played a major part in Victor's life. It inspired his artwork and fueled his desire to go on a mission.

"He loved to draw and he always talked about God," friend MacArthur Garcia said. "He wasn't the most popular person, but if you got to know him, he'd always laugh and tell jokes.

"He was an amazing artist and a really good person."

Victor's other sister, Maggie, 17, said he would rarely miss a day of church.

"His passion for the church was big. He loved it," she said.

Garcia's mother Kim Garcia said that, while Victor was shy, he was funny, too.

"Those two were so funny together," she said. "They shared so many things. He was so polite."

Victor graduated from Pasco's Chiawana High School earlier this year. He spent the summer working with his father at the Willow Drive Nursery near Ephrata.

While in Pasco, he lived with his mother Martha Leal.

The older Victor had worked at the nursery for nearly 20 years.

Lupita said he was an intelligent man who loved math.

Victor Sr. had no other family in the United States, she said. There are plans to have his body transported to Guanajuato, Mexico, to be buried next to his mother and father.

"He was a hard worker," Maggie said. "He always did what he could to provide for us. He didn't have a favorite child. He loved us all the same."

Victor Sr. also had a daughter from a different marriage living in Mexico.

Kim Garcia said the whole event has been tragic for the family, particularly 17-year-old Maggie.

"In Hispanic culture, everything is put on the oldest child when these things happen. And Victor was the oldest. And now it's put on Maggie," she said. "And now Maggie will fall onto being the oldest."

In an effort to help, Garcia has set up a donation account for the family. Anyone wishing to contribute may do so at any U.S. Bank location.

The account is labeled the Victor Aguilar Memorial Fund.

"He was a good kid, and he'll be greatly missed," she said. "He had his whole life ahead of him, but now he's gone."

Funeral arrangements were not finalized by Thursday evening, but are expected early next week.