Joseph Refugio Mancilla

Joseph R. Mancilla Joseph Refugio Mancilla, age 84, died peacefully in his home in Jurupa Valley on July 3, 2020. Joseph was born Jos Refugio Mancilla Saavedra in 1935 in Guanajuato, Mexico. He was the eldest of eight children born to Santiago Mancilla and Maria Saavedra. He married Macarena Olivo Avelar in San Luis Potos, Mxico, in 1956. Joseph enjoyed taking his family on road trips and loved camping and picnicking. He was known to wink one eye to cue the children when he was telling a fib to prank another member of the family. He loved diverse genres of music and amassed a large collection of LPs, which he loved to play obnoxiously loud. Clever and smart, Joseph was also mechanically inclined. He would build what he was not able to afford. He built the first home where the family lived for many years. Aside from his day job in manufacturing, he studied electronics and built a small operation focusing on radio and television repair. Joseph moved to Chicago on July 20, 1969, the same day man landed on the moon, in search of a better life for his family. He moved to Los Angeles two years later. A very hard-working man, Joseph kept a day job while he owned several businesses during his lifetime, including a bicycle repair shop, a barbershop, a lawn mowing business, and a shoe repair shop. He dedicated full time to his trucking company as an owner-operator until his retirement in 1998. At home, he was mechanic, plumber, carpenter, or gardener, as he could fix, repair, or build just about everything he tinkered with. He was an avid life-long learner filling his home with books and devoting some of his free time to reading and learning. Though he enjoyed reading about diverse topics, history was his favorite subject. Joseph became a widower when Macarena, his wife of 48 years, preceded him from this life in 2004. He became a USA citizen in 2005, at which time he changed his birth name, Jos, to adopt the name, Joseph. He is survived by four siblings: Margarita, Guillermo, Maria de Los Angeles, and Santiago; his ten children, Patricia, Elvia, Israel, America, Jose Efrain, Miriam, Sara, Elias, Aaron, and Adam; 21 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.Burial services on July 14 will be private due to pandemic restrictions. Near that date, flowers may be sent to Thomas Miller Mortuary, Sierra Memorial Chapel