Juan Hoyos Marcoida (1925-2021) died of natural causes in his sleep Friday morning January 22 ^rd . He was 95 years old. Juan was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, loyal friend and pioneer community organizer. He was born in Pachuca, Hidalgo - a mining town in Mexico. He studied mechanical engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico until being drafted into the Mexican military in 1944, fulfilling his duty. While visiting the United States in 1945, he met and married Genevieve Garcia – his wife of 58 years who passed away in 2003. He and Genevieve worked as a team to purchase a home in San Jose, raise five children and devote their lives to helping the Spanish-speaking community. Anyone in need around Juan benefited from his generous heart and engineering acumen – or as he called it, " Mexican Ingenuity ". He taught his children that education is a privilege and showing respect is crucial. For 37 years Juan worked as a master machinist in San Jose for General Electric - building electric motors. He attended night classes at San Jose State to increase his technical knowledge. After retiring from GE, he worked at Lockheed (NASA) making components for space stations and the Hubble Telescope. In his retirement, he devoted his life to caring for Genevieve, until her passing.

In the early 1950's, Juan attained his ambition of gaining American citizenship. He attended night school to improve his English. Later he experienced the advantages of English fluency at citizenship meetings. As a result, he volunteered to teach English at night at Mayfair Elementary School on the East Side. He won many awards for his community involvement in the 1950's as President of the Community Service Organization (CSO). The CSO was a nonprofit organization that consisted of women and men who volunteered their time to teach citizenship classes and improve the living conditions of the Spanish-speaking community in East San Jose. Along with Fred Ross and Father McDonnell (Our Lady of Guadalupe Church), the CSO helped obtain lights, sidewalks and paved streets in the East Side barrio, known as "Sal Si Puedes". The CSO also addressed police brutality issues in the Market Street area, organized registration drives and produced "get out the vote" campaigns. To finance the CSO Office on Santa Clara Street, the volunteers opened a second-hand store, created tamale fundraisers and set up dances. Juan's love of music and his passion to increase the Mexican-American vote led him to produce a weekly radio program. On Sundays, he played Mexican music and made public announcements informing the Spanish-speaking community of employment opportunities, citizenship classes and free CSO legal immigration services. He received the "Good Neighbor Award" and named "Citizen of the Year" in 1956.

Back as far as 1952, Juan realized the solution to solving societal problems lies in the participation of its citizens. He and Genevieve worked hard to increase the number of registered voters of Mexican descent. Today, Spanish-speaking Americans are discovering the true power of the vote – something Juan Marcoida discovered and developed as President of CSO decades ago. His mottos, "think positive" and "have faith" helped him live a long, full life.

Juan is predeceased by his loving wife of 58 years, Genevieve, their daughter, Margarita (Ralph) and their son, David (Laura). His legacy and energy will be kept alive by his children: Juan Gabriel (Irma), John (Dorothy), Anna (Steve), Virginia (Jim) and Christina; his grandchildren: Juan Miguel, José Gabriel, Nona, Michael, John-John, Jenny, Alison, Tanner, Maya, Ashley and Diego; and a gaggle of great grandchildren. His second wife, Violeta and her daughter, Ani, will miss him as well.  The Marcoida Family would like to thank his caregivers Bobby and Sera for their love and dedication.

A private family memorial will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to some of Juan's favorite organizations – Second Harvest Food Bank, Sacred Heart Community Service, Children's Musical Theater (CMT), San Jose Jazz, or Teatro Visión.