A few miles to the south, just outside the city limits, sits a little known cemetery. Under the auspices of the Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of Los Angeles, sits Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Cemetery.

This cemetery is the final resting place for approximately 30 people ranging from newborns to adults in their 70s. All were buried starting in the 1870s to the early 1900s. Only a small number of headstones remain, while the majority of graves are largely unmarked.

For decades, after the cemetery was no longer used, the land suffered from neglect. Most of the tombstones were destroyed and some graves were victims of grave robbing. Soon, weeds and brush would claim the land and cattle would graze freely among the broken headstones. There was little to alert visitors that this was a consecrated place.

Well, my dad, Albert Nunez Sr., decided to do something about it. Dad grew up and lived here his whole life. He and his wife Cecilia (mom), were married for 52 years and raised five sons. Dad was very active in the community, attending and volunteering at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, was a member of the Knights of Columbus, a board member for the Guadalupe Public Cemetery District Board of Trustees and served as the Assistant Fire Chief for the Guadalupe Fire Department.

He was also a student of history and genealogy. I think that it was his love of history and life in the valley that motivated his interest in recapturing this land. Working with the local farmers, he was able to get help to erect fences and perform weed abatement over the whole area. He then built and painted crosses to honor those buried here (a duty passed on to me), some of whom are distant relatives.

Dad passed in 2020, but what he started continues today as we work to keep this sacred ground…distinguished, and those buried here…remembered.
Visitors are welcome to stop by and stand in a doorway to the past, but the gate is locked. The cemetery is found two miles south on Hwy 1, then right on Point Sal Road (Brown Road). You’ll find the cemetery just around the first bend.

~Albert Nunez Jr.