SAN ANTONIO – Community members gathered Saturday evening to remember an 84-year-old man considered by many to be a “good Samaritan” who “truly loved his neighbors.”
Manuel “Manny” Gomez Mendez Jr. was found burning in the brush along a busy Southeast Side road on Saturday, March 28.
The East Side senior worked tirelessly in the community for years, those close to him said, often loaning his time to charities Fechner and HIS BridgeBuilders.
“He made a big difference in a lot of people’s lives, mine included,” Melvin Fechner said Wednesday. “Always being with God’s people, doing the work of God, to love God and love his neighbors.”
Fechner said he witnessed Mendez often bending over backwards, trying to fill whatever needs people may have, from providing food and clothing to getting them medical help and housing.
“Like a roving good Samaritan, you know, just out looking for people to befriend and see how he could help them out,” Fechner said.
In addition to all the people he knew and helped in the community, his friends said Mendez was a father of two sons.
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