Our brother, Jose Mena Felix tragically passed unexpectedly at the age of 38. His death is undetermined at the moment but likely a stroke or heart attack. He was at home with my mother who is battling Liver Cancer and he was her primary caregiver. It’s unimaginable the weight she has on her shoulders right now, but thankfully she has an amazing support system and is holding up.

Jose Mena was the warmest, kindest, and realest father, brother, son, uncle or friend you could have ever asked for. He had the best smile and laugh that we will always long for. He was always so funny, sweet, and easy to talk to. He will be missed forever but his memory will live on in each and every one of us. He is survived by a beautiful daughter named Larissa as well as her siblings Raylene, Carlos and Caleb. Larissa is young and has her whole life ahead of her and will need the help and support of her community. He was a son to Teresa and Ramon and a brother to Gina, Eddie, Alex and his adored little sis Vanessa. He was an uncle to nephews Nathan, Joseph, Chris, Gabriel, Angel, Mikie, Marshall, Jullian, Zeus and nieces Emellene, Ellianna, Legend, Cali, and Cora. He had way too many friends to name and we are eternally grateful to you all.

We are all beyond devastated and are grieving. It’s hard to grieve when you are overwhelmed by the immense financial burden. We greatly appreciate each and every one who has donated anything from the candlelight vigil, completely put together by dedicated friends to a car wash completely off of donations that was an immense contribution and countless other hours, blood, sweat and tears you all put in on his behalf for our family.

We appreciate each and every one of you who came today to pay your respects to Mena or Big Sykes as he was known. He would be super happy to know that you all are here for him, but he would play it real cool, because he was actually a shy guy. But his personality and genuinely good nature made people gravitate to him. Not only was he a great listener, and strong shoulder to lean on, but he would have you cracking up.

Mena was born in Los Angeles but raised in Corona since a toddler. He was a quiet kid but with so much heart you could see in in his eyes. He spent a lot of time with his siblings and cousins and then made many friends around the neighborhood and at school. He met his love Georgianna at a young age. They had a beautiful daughter and Mena unfortunately spent time away while Larissa was growing up. She was always in contact with him and was happy to reunite with him in 2021. The last five years have been true definition of joy and pain. We appreciate every last moment we got to spend with him and will keep his memory alive until we all reunite with him again.