
Ramiro Guerrero
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A bright, shining light in the world has been darkened through the death of Ramiro Guerrero. A man of deep faith and courage, he fought a fierce battle with lymphoma for several months. He died on July 9, 2020 at Berkshire Medical Center, surrounded by his beloved family, and dedicated medical and spiritual staff members. A Pittsfield resident for 16 years, Ramiro was the coordinator of Latino Ministries of the Berkshires, in both Pittsfield and Great Barrington, through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
Ramiro touched hundreds of lives with compassion, generosity, kindness, love, and unending service. He was willing to do whatever job was needed to be done and completed each task with humility. There was no one he was unwilling to help at whatever hour of the day or night. He was born in Granada, Nicaragua, Central America, in 1934 to Tulita and Solon Guerrero and was the youngest of a very large family. Much of his childhood was spent in Chontales, a jungle area of Nicaragua, where he was familiar with crocodiles, monkeys, parrots, and a host of other wildlife. Stories of his childhood were always filled with excitement and wonder. He could recite reams of poetry by heart and sing endless songs. His spirit was joyous, optimistic, and filled with the love of life. He was multi-talented around the house in electricity, carpentry, plumbing, and repairing anything that needed fixing. Ramiro had a warm, loving, outgoing personality. No matter where he went, he always started conversations with strangers. His smile was bigger than the Grand Canyon. He loved nature and deeply appreciated forests and sunsets, lakes and mountains, flowers and birds. He loved astronomy as well as discussion of politics and religion. He meditated daily with strict discipline and remained deeply faithful to Almighty God. Ramiro was also a community organizer who loved people and never-ending projects. He lived several different lives.
In his early life, he was educated by Jesuits and became one of them, being ordained as a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest in Mexico. He served faithfully for several years and traveled through numerous countries in both Central and South America. He earned a B.S. as well as Master's Degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona. After he left the priesthood, he married, became a father and then grandfather, but his devotion to serving God first never ended throughout his life. He worked as a counselor in a human services agency in Springfield as well as at Holyoke and Hartford Community Colleges. When the family moved to Tucson, Arizona, Ramiro worked for many years as a counselor with young people at a Job Corps Training Center in Tucson. He and his wife also served for many years as foster parents with dozens of teenagers through the Center for Human Development. They also hosted foreign students from China, Japan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Turkey and hosted an immigrant family from El Salvador. Ramiro leaves his beloved wife of 45 years, Susan; his son, Xavier (Melissa) of Colorado; his daughter, Gabriela (Mike) Sheehan of Lenox; and five precious grandchildren: Alexander, Novalie, Julianna, Andrew, and Wyatt. He also has one surviving sibling, Lorenzo, of Florida. He also leaves many treasured nieces, nephews, and friends as well as sisters-in-law, Barbara Kochapski, Natalie Massery, Diane Stetson, Elaine Wicker and Fandy Guerrero and brothers-in-law, James Massery and Mike Crivello. He was predeceased by his parents and siblings Benicio, Miguel, and Solon Guerrero and sisters, Gertrudes Arragon; Amada Crivello; Carmen Mattson and Mercedes Pugh, and their spouses. Funeral services for Ramiro Guerrero will be held on Friday, July 17, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at St. Marks Church, 400 West Street, Pittsfield, MA., celebrated by the Rev. Christopher Fedoryshyn and Rev. John Salatino. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery. Donations in Ramiro's name may be sent to the Latino Ministry of St. Peter's Church, 213 Main St. Great Barrinton, MA 01230 and/or Latino Ministry of St. Mark's Church, 400 West St. Pittsfield MA 01201. Carmon Funeral Home of Avon, CT has care of the arrangements. For condolences please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com.
