Jesse Morales Obituary

MORALES - Jesus Guzman December 25, 1947 – August 17, 2009 Jesse Guzman Morales died peacefully at home on August 17, 2009 at the age 61 after a 17 month journey with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Jesse is survived by Kathy, his loving wife of 29 years, his daughters Angela (Jordan), Christina (Frankie), Stephanie (Mike), and Emily, and two grandchildren, Ethan and Maia. He is also survived by seven siblings, Bert Morales, Cleo Lawlor, Fely Williams, Rose Gregg, Remy Martin, Elizabeth Pagtakhan and Lope Morales and many nieces and nephews he loved spending time with. He is predeceased by his parents Zacarias and Soledad Morales and three sisters, Carla, Lolita and Catalina. Jesse was born on December 25, 1947 in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga in the Philippines. As a child and teen he enjoyed playing basketball, boxing, hanging out with friends and family, fixing cars in his father’s automotive shop and causing mischief. He made his first living selling newspapers on the nearby American air force base. He immigrated to Vancouver, BC in 1974. He met his wife Kathy in 1977 at Denny’s Restaurant. They were married in 1980 and welcomed the twins, Christina and Angela into the family in 1986, Stephanie in 1985 and Emily in 1995. In 1986, God got a hold of Jesse’s life and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. Jesus radically changed him as he experienced a complete transformation. He could not stop telling people about this experience. He began leading a weekly Bible study with coworkers at Downtown Toyota in Vancouver. It wasn’t long before Jesse felt called to ministry. In 1989, he and Kathy packed up the family and moved to Cochrane AB where he attended the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary. While still a student, he started FilipinoCanadian Baptist Fellowship (now BIC) in 1993. He graduated from the seminary in 1994. Over the years, the church became a family and one of his favorite memories with them, was the annual church camp. In 1997, he relocated the family to Calgary to be closer to the church that he loved and served. In 2004, he felt a call to start again with Symons Valley Community Church (now the Pathway) and found his niche as a corporate chaplain with Outreach Canada. His priority in ministry was always to spread the kingdom of God and to be available to Him. He knew that kingdom work was about quality not quantity and loved to spend time discipling new believers. After serving God, his next priority was building relationships with people. He had an amazing way of connecting with them wherever he went. He was a man of many trades and talents. When he was not serving the people of his church, he could be found under the hood of a car in the garage. He was truly a master mechanic and could diagnose a problem just by listening to it! He loved to spend time playing and coaching his girls in basketball in the driveway and the gym. In more recent years, he branched out and discovered some new interests. He realized his love of hunting with friends and family. He loved to cook and eat deer and moose meat and would often incorporate them into his favorite Filipino recipes! He also challenged himself with entering a winning raft into the annual Cochrane Raft Race after being termed, “Most Likely to Sink” his first year. His basketball-themed raft and team did come out on top the second time around! He was a wonderful husband, loving father and tender, caring grandfather. He was especially thrilled upon the arrival of his first grandson, Ethan, also his first boy! He had a contagious laugh and a smile that could light up any room. He made people feel at ease and important wherever he went. ALS rapidly took over his body in the last year. Despite the loss of many physical abilities, he always said, “This disease cannot take away what is most important to me- my faith and my family.” His unshakeable faith and confidence in his Lord inspires those he left behind. In his last days he told his family, “Don’t let this disease discourage your faith in Christ.” He will be missed dearly by all who knew him, especially his family. He truly fought the fight, kept the faith and finished the race well. Dad, we’re sure there were a great cloud of witnesses to welcome you at the pearly gates when you arrived home. The twinkle in your eyes and smile on your face gave it away moments before you transitioned into eternal life. Life won’t be the same without you. We love you SO much and we will miss you immensely. Until we see you again… Funeral services were held Monday, August 24 at Foothills Alliance Church. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to ALS Society of Alberta or Outreach Canada Corporate Chapliancy.