11:29am
By Adonia Soto
On August 25th at 4:15 pm Venice lost one of its own. Agustin Gonzalez was a husband, son, father, grandfather, brother and local artist. He was an uncle and nino too. Not just to his own family but to our whole Venice family.
He contributed to the community with his art. With murals, paintings, tatoos and drawings found throughout the neighborhood from the Mark Twain Jr high tiled mural to the beach and in between. You can’t pass through Venice without seeing something he did.
Just as his art will live on so will the love everyone has for him. He made friends with everyone. Humble, kind and always smiling that was our “Smiley” or “Gute” . He leaves friends from here to Japan, more than a friend, because once you knew him he was a brother.
From art to handball, Gute was skilled with his hands and could create magic on canvas and on the handball courts at the beach. If you knew him then you knew his greatest creations were his kids and they can tell you he was the best dad.
We were all blessed to have had our paths cross in this life and he has left a lasting impression on all those that knew and loved him, although his wife Beatris and daughters Prisilla and Senette and grandson Mason are experiencing this loss the most, we can’t forget his dog Tintin who just like us is expecting him to walk through the gate at any moment.
We will miss you Gute, may you fly high with the angels until we meet again
There has been a GoFundMe account set up to help his wife and daughters with the expense of laying him to rest. There will be fundraising events as well. including a a car wash at Great Western Hoagies, 1720 Lincoln Blvd in Venice this Saturday September 3, from 7am to 10am.
If you don’t need your car washed you can still stop by as the family will be selling coffee and breakfast pastries.
All donations are welcome. Click this link to donate to the family’s GofundMe campaign.