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The Mission District is mourning the loss of one its cultural pillars and teachers. Ricardo \u201cEl Tigre\u201d Pe\u00f1a<\/a> passed away on Monday morning from an apparent heart attack. He was 54.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was our guardian angel, an Aztec warrior of love,\u201d said Roberto Hernandez, the chief executive officer of Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas<\/a>, the non-profit overseeing Carnaval, an event in which Pe\u00f1a and his wife Connie Rivera have danced for decades. \u201cHe was the heartbeat of our community with his danza. He brought medicine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pe\u00f1a was a father, husband, artist, business owner, teacher, t\u00edo and a Nahuatl Indigenous danzante and drummer proud of his culture and roots. He was a friend to those who walked by Mixcoalt \u2014 the Mexican gift shop he ran with his wife and two children at 24th Street and South Van Ness Avenue for the last 21 years. <\/p>\n Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter below.<\/p>\n It was common to see him setting up sage, palo santo, traditional Mesoamerican arts and crafts and luchadores masks outside the store, and walking his daughter\u2019s dog, Sleepy \u2014 or Oso, as he liked to call him \u2014 every morning and night.<\/p>\n But most people saw Pe\u00f1a, whether they knew it was him or not, as a friend and as an Aztec dancer. For more than 30 years, Pe\u00f1a, his family and their troop, Danza Azteca, were ubiquitous Mission fixtures at community meetings and celebrations.<\/p>\n \u201cThis dance, this tradition has been passed down from oral tradition from generation to generation. We\u2019ve respected it,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a in a 2022 documentary<\/a> about him and Danza Azteca. \u201cFor us, dancing is our way of praying. Our way of connecting to our elders.\u201d<\/p>\n Pe\u00f1a moved to the United States when he was 17 from his native Toluca, a city just west of Mexico City. He had met Rivera in Mexico <\/a>and was following her north. From the start Pe\u00f1a and Rivera, who soon married, called the Mission District their new home. They carried their ancestral traditions and the two kept practicing danza Azteca, passing the knowledge to generations of Mission kids, including two of their own, and blessing all kinds of ceremonies throughout the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom says that I have been dancing since I was in the womb,\u201d said Xochi Pe\u00f1a, Connie and Ricardo\u2019s daughter, when asked about what it meant dancing alongside her family. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful that my parents continued the traditions from their ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n Xochi said there were not enough words or adjectives to describe who her dad was, but if one met him, then one would know.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI learned a lot from his patience. He had so much love to give, whether he knew you on a deeper level or not. He never held any hate in his heart,\u201d said Xochi. \u201cHe always had just some story to tell or something to teach you. People felt like they could open up to him. I wish I could have learned so much more from him. He was a great man.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends and neighbors also described Pe\u00f1a as a man who was generous, wise, kind, humble, calm, peaceful, spiritual. A great listener who was always at the service of his community. Every year he\u2019d volunteered with the Calle 24 Cultural District, hanging up papel cortado and small Latin American flags along the corridor during holidays like D\u00eda de Los Muertos and Fiesta de las Am\u00e9ricas. He and Connie also taught free danza Azteca classes at the Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was our drum beat. He was el latido de nuestro coraz\u00f3n,\u201d our heartbeat, said Martina Ayala, the executive director of the Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts, where Pe\u00f1a and Connie taught danza Azteca for years. \u201cWhen you see Ricardo\u2019s life, you see la Calle 24. You see the Mission because he was always around, everywhere in our local businesses and our local organizations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ayala said that through his dancing, Pe\u00f1a shared his ancestral knowledge, spiritual grounding and a deep love for his traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHis teachings shaped generations of dancers and families and community members who came to the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts seeking a connection, culture and healing,\u201d said Ayala. \u201cRicardo\u2019s passing is a profound loss to the Mission District and for all of us who were touched by his gentle strength, his unwavering dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the local businesses Pe\u00f1a liked were San Jalisco, La Taza, and Dianda\u2019s bakery. He liked Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, an occasional whiskey, sweets, the Golden State Warriors (he designed a T-shirt once), the nopales his mom used to make in Mexico and Connie\u2019s cooking: enchiladas, moles and chiles rellenos.<\/p>\n He also liked heavy metal, with Sepultura<\/a> being one of his favorite bands, but he shared a bond with Xochi for Man\u00e1<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWith me and him it was always Man\u00e1,\u201d said Xochi, adding Mariposa Traicionera<\/a> and \u00c1ngel de Amor<\/a> as two of his favorite songs.<\/p>\n Xochi said her dad also liked his coffee and bread every morning.<\/p>\n![\"Mission](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765404308_717_mission-local-logo-300x300.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9737-649x640.png\")
Ricardo Pe\u00f1a and Connie Rivera posing for a portrait. Photo courtesy of Xochi Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ricardo-918x640.jpg\")
Ricardo Pe\u00f1a and his daughter Xochi Pe\u00f1a posing for a portrait. Photo courtesy of Xochi Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9724-425x640.jpeg\")
Ricardo Pe\u00f1a and his son Cuauht\u00e9moc playing traditional drums. Photo courtesy of Xochi Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_9731-478x640.jpeg\")
Ricardo Pe\u00f1a posing for a portrait. Photo courtesy of Xochi Pe\u00f1a.<\/p>\n