“A part of the mission is gone and it will, God-willing, be replaced and new, but it will also never be the same.”
“My heart is full of sadness,” said San Gabriel resident Anita Chavez, 70, who calls herself a “lifetime parishioner.” “This church has been at the center of my family, my world and my faith.”
Though she stood about 100 feet away, Chavez became emotional when she saw the damage and smelled the embers.Chavez held funerals for her son Martin Jr., husband Martin Sr. and parents Virginia Quintanar and Jose Quintanar in 2011, 1992, 1999 and 1984, respectively, all at the mission. Authorities received a call at 4:24 a.m. reporting that the mission’s fire alarm had gone off. When an engine arrived to investigate, firefighters saw flames and smoke coming from the corner of the mission. The cause was under investigation.
Chavez worked as a special education assistant with the San Gabriel Unified School District and was proud to be part of a fundraising drive to help refurbish many of the now battered and destroyed pews.“A part of the mission is gone and it will, God-willing, be replaced and new, but it will also never be the same,” she said.
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