Ernest G. Lugo
September 27, 1942 - May 31, 2023

Ernest Granado Lugo was born on September 27th, 1942, at home, in
Bakersfield, California, to Petra and Francis Lugo. He was the youngest of 10
children. At a very young age, he started working, picking fruit with his dad. They
were the fastest team. Later, he chopped and picked cotton. At 16, he started
driving melon trucks. He would continue working in agriculture and driving trucks
for over 50 years.

During his time working in the fields he met the love of his life, Mary. They
dated for 7 years before they were finally able to marry on June 26, 1966. On
March 17, 1967, they welcomed their first child, Benjamin, and moved to Los
Banos, CA. They went on to have 3 daughters, Lisa, Sandra, and Valerie. Los
Banos became their home.

Ernie didn't play organized baseball growing up. Instead, he tagged along
with his older sisters (who raised him) and sister in law and he learned how to play
fast pitch softball. Later, he made sure he showed his kids how to play ball and
signed them up for sports. He also made sure that the jobs he had, brought him
home every night. He didn't want his kids moving around to different schools nor
did he want to be away from his family. In his younger years, he enjoyed playing
adult softball in the Parks and Rec 30 and over league. He played and managed for
many years. When his kids were old enough, he went on to coach them in adult
softball. After his grandkids came along, he decided to take on the role of Little
League, PAL, and Mexican-American baseball coach! He made sure his kids filled
out the volunteer applications too! He coached his grandkids and his great
grandkids! He was very active in the Little League organization up until his death.
At 80 years old, he was prepping the fields, holding practices, and he was Umpire
in Chief. If you ever needed to find Ernie, you could find him at the Colorado
Ballpark!

When Ernie wasn't coaching, he enjoyed dancing with Mary, family parties,
gardening, the Niners, the SF Giants, any Little League games on TV, westerns,
listening to music, enjoying time with his dog, Paco, scrolling through Facebook
jokes, and enjoying a cold one.

On Wednesday, May 31st, 2023, Ernie got the call to take his spot in the
3rd base coaching box in the sky. Although we were not ready for him to go, he
was always ready because he READ his rule book! Ernie was preceded in death by
his parents, Petra and Francis; his brothers, Antonio, Henry Macias, and Jose; his
sisters Tomasa, Frances Guerrero, Gloria Perez, Petra Avila, and Eva L. Sanchez;
his daughter Valerie Lugo; his granddaughter Andria Lugo and his dog Chankla.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 56 years, Mary; son, Benny Lugo
(Niggs); daughters, Lisa Lugo (Vicente), and Sandra Alarcon (Andy);
grandchildren, Ernie Lugo(Gaby), Casandra Aguilera(Michael), Andy Alarcon, Jr.,
Ashley Cortez(Jaime), Ariana Naivaluwaqa(Daniel), Eva Thompson(Michael),
Avian Alarcon, Jaide Sneed; great-grandchildren, Benjamin Lugo, Izaiah Lopez,
Audrey Lugo, Jeremiah Brown, Jaelah Foreman, Aria Thompson, Valentino Lugo,
Donnell Hellams III, Alivia Thompson, Nyjah Foreman, Caleb Aguilera, Kaiulani
Naivaluwaqa; sister, Andrea Rivas; sister in laws, Carmen Rubio and Margie
Reyes; brother in law Ramon Sanchez and many nieces and nephews.

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