‘He was always fighting on the side of the poor.’ Fresno mourns community leader
He spent his life helping his community overcome struggles and to rest in peace with dignity.
Henry Enrique Reade, a longtime Fresno community leader, died Tuesday after a battle with colon cancer. He was 70.
Friends remembered him as a strong advocate for farmworkers and social justice causes who always was there to help families mourn.
When grieving families ran into financial challenges from pricey burial services, Reade – a career mortician – was sure to hear about it and want to help, said his longtime friend Javier Guzman.
“I would always be referring people to Enrique,” Guzman said. “He was always fighting on the side of the poor and the underserved.”
Guzman, volunteer director of the Chicano Youth Center in downtown Fresno, told The Bee that Reade regularly worked with the United Farm Workers Union and the Mexican American Political Association. Reade was also heavily involved in promoting Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez marches.
A “straight shooter,” Reade rarely minced words in meetings with Fresno mayors, senators and other power players to help take care of the Chicano community, said Guzman.
“We’re going to miss him very, very much,” Guzman said.
Caring for the living, dead
As much as he cared for his living friends and neighbors, Reade also took pains to make sure the dead, too, were taken care of.
In one instance, Reade helped the family of a local farmworker couple who died years part.
They were buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery thanks in part to Reade’s help. But the family initially had trouble paying for a reception and services, so Reade put together donations and set up a gathering place to remember the couple at each of their deaths.
“That’s the kind of human being he was,” said Guzman.
Reade and his wife contracted with the Fresno County Coroner’s Office to pick up deceased residents.
Working with the Coroner’s Office to retrieve the bodies of fatal crash victims, Reade witnessed the destruction caused by drinking and driving. It inspired him to work to reduce alcoholism, particularly among Latino farmworkers whom he knew were vulnerable after long days working in the fields.
“That was his No. 1 wish in life, that we had programs to address alcohol abuse and drunk driving issues,” Guzman added
Reade had also developed a program with the Sheriff-Coroner’s office to bring youth in and show them the dangers of drunken driving. He also worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving for awareness.
Reade and his wife owned Reade and Sons Funeral Home in Chinatown. Reade also worked for nine years as general manager of the Garden of Innocence in Fresno, which provides proper burials for abandoned and unidentified babies, according to founder Elissa Davey.
Davey said Reade helped her during their travels across the state to establish similar programs in other communities. She said it showed Reade’s deep passion for helping the underserved.
Kelly Matlock, lead deputy coroner at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, said she knew Reade for about 17 years. The two worked together through Reade’s contract work with the sheriff’s office.
Over time, Matlock said, she also got to witness Reade’s generosity.
Not only did Reade’s funeral home offer low-cost services to low-income residents and families of immigrants, but it became one of the first to offer free services for unclaimed babies through the Garden of Innocence project. Matlock helped to bring the program to Fresno County.
“The guy just had a heart of gold,” Matlock said. “He would give you the shirt off his back. He just gave his everything.”
Matlock counts Reade’s death as a big loss for the community. She said many people knew him and his kindness.
Services
Services for Reade will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at St. Alphonsus Church at 351 E. Kearney Blvd. in Fresno.
Burial will follow at Mountain View Cemetery at 1411 W. Belmont Ave. in Fresno.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
