Marcos Muñoz never had a formal education, learning to read just a few words in Spanish, and he struggled in English. But make no mistake, Muñoz was a highly educated man in many ways, who learned from his life experiences starting at a young age.

“He had an incredible way of communicating with people. I used to joke and say that he could make a rock talk,” his widow, Andrea O’Malley Muñoz, said in an interview.

Contributing columnist Jose Gaspar is a former news anchor/reporter for Telemundo Bakersfield and KGET. Email him at elcompa29@gmail.com. The views expressed here are his own.