Elias Macias-Jaquéz‚ 49‚ was very strong and a hard worker. He grew up in Cuauhtémoc‚ Chihuahua‚ Mexico. Then he migrated around the United States until he met our mother‚ Josephine‚ in a little town called Cimarron‚ New Mexico. They lived there for a few years‚ then decided to move to Texas where he raised his four daughters. He lived in Cactus‚ Texas‚ for 23 years and worked at JBS Swift & Co. for 23 years as well. Elias did a lot of hard work‚ including even helping out on a farm for just about his whole life.
He enjoyed being a volunteer firefighter for two years for the Cactus Fire Department. He enjoyed being able to help anyone in need. We remember back in 2011‚ about a week before his accident‚ he was very proud of himself because they had a call for a fire out in the country‚ and he was able to help an elderly man save his barn.
Elias was a very loving person‚ especially when it came to animals. He enjoyed feeding the cattle‚ the horses‚ the pigs‚ anything that came across the farm.
One thing he sure did enjoy besides working was being with his family. He was able to spend time not only with his wife and four girls‚ but also with his three grandchildren. He never was able to experience having a son‚ but he did get to have two grandsons that he loved very much and showed them as much as he could. Even though they were too little to learn‚ he would still do so. He spoiled his grandchildren like there was no tomorrow.
All we have left is the wonderful memories he shared with us. He is a grand hero not only to his family‚ but to his community where everyone knew him.
I was honored to have attended FF Macias’ memorial service as a representative of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Fire Rescue Department. I did not know him or his family, but was fortunate to have experienced the incredible sense of faith, family and community at the service. In May of 2018, life’s twists and turns opened a path that led to my meeting the daughter of this fallen hero. We began a conversation that has, so far, lasted 3 years as we journey forward to our wedding next spring. I never believed in fate before – but I have a strong sense that FF Macias had a hand in bringing his daughter and I together, so that this retired Battalion Chief could take up the joy of walking by her side until that day when father and daughter are together again. My only regret is that I didn’t get to meet this wonderful man while he was alive. Descansa bien en paz mi hermano.
– Jeffrey Giraud, EFO (Ret)