Hector Rojas Espinola

Hector Rojas Espinola was born February 17, 1926 to Luis Ledesma Espinola and Elvira Rojas Espinola in Long Beach, California. He had 4 brothers (Joel, Artemio, Armando and Luis) and 2 sisters (Ofelia and Delia).

When he was 18 years old, he enlisted in the Army as a gun crewman in light artillery, during the draft of World War II. He served as ­­­­­­­­­Private First Class in the 245^th Field Artillery Battalion from April 1944 to May 1946. Hector was a proud World War II veteran.

After an honorable discharge, he worked in various careers throughout his life, including journalist for the newspaper La Opinion. His final career was as a planning engineer in the aerospace industry at Northrop Grumman. He worked there for 28 years, until he retired in 1988.

He met his wife of almost 57 years, Elena, through his sister-in-law, Socorro Rojas. She introduced them in 1965 in Guadalajara, Mexico. They married on September 22, 1966. Nine months later, they had their first child, Selina, followed by Gabriel, Maria and Elena.

Hector is preceded in death by his mother Elvira Rojas Espinola and father Luis Ledesma Espinola, sisters Ofelia and Delia, and brothers Joel and Luis.

He is survived by his wife, Elena Barreda Espinola, and his children Selina Knoob, her husband Tim and their 4 children—Mary, Joely, Lauren and Kayla; his son, Gabriel Espinola, his wife Amber and their 3 children—Ethan, Julia and Emily; his daughter, Maria Adams, her husband David and their 4 children—Andrew, Trevor, Cassidy and Jalyn; his daughter Elena Jones, her husband Zach and their 3 children—Cameron and his wife Kaylin, Alex and Dakota. He is also survived by his brother Armando Espinola (101 years old), two great grandchildren Blakely and Denver, and a host of beloved nieces, nephews and extended family members and friends.