Ramon Collazo Perez; Helped in Founding of Casa Del Mexicano

Ramon Collazo Perez, a former ranch hand and founder of Casa Del Mexicano in Santa Paula, died Friday. He was 91.

Perez was born March 15, 1904, in Jalisco, Mexico. He moved to the Santa Paula area about 65 years ago to work on local ranches.

In the 1940s he helped found La Honorifica, a service organization for the area’s Latino community. Rosario Lopez Chacon, another Honorifica founder, said the organization focused on raising money for those in need, such as widows or families who couldn’t afford to bury a loved one.

“Whoever needed some money--if they were sick or a member of their family was sick--we’d try to raise the money for them, and we did,” he said.

Perez also helped build Casa Del Mexicano, a place for the community to hold dances and social events. Volunteers, including Perez, went door to door throughout the town, soliciting money for the Casa, Chacon said. The institution they helped build remains an important part of Santa Paula life, Chacon said.

Perez is survived by a sister, Margarita Perez of Mexico, and 10 children: Manuel Perez, Raymond Perez Jr., Frank Perez, Daniel Perez, Marcella Perez, Becky Huerta and Mercedes Henderson, all of Santa Paula, Angelina Perez of Mexico and Fidel Perez and Elizabeth Jaramillo of Oxnard. Other survivors include 47 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 3 to 6 p.m. today at Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary in Santa Paula. A rosary will be said at 8 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. The burial Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.