Submitted by his father

Nito Rene Guajardo was a member of the Baytown Fire Department‚ Station 1‚ Ladder 1. He was just 2 weeks shy of his first anniversary. Nito was 24‚ the oldest brother‚ 3rd in line of 15‚ lovingly called ‘Bubba.’ He was just an ordinary guy. He graduated high school with average grades. He played proudly on the football team. He loved football. He wasn’t a great player‚ but he was a team player. The coaches loved him because of the spirit he brought to the game.

He spent a year at Southeast Oklahoma State University. He came home‚ worked at Randall’s grocery store for a while‚ worked as an electrician’s helper‚ as a mechanic’s helper‚ then Home Depot. He was an ‘expert’ at everything he did. When he worked at Randall’s you couldn’t shop for groceries anywhere else. When he was an electrician–well‚ he was good enough to wire his dad’s garage. When he was a mechanic‚ well‚ let’s just say‚ he helped. And when he worked at Home Depot‚ don’t say you bought it at Lowe’s! He was proud of every job he held.

But with each job‚ Nito would say that’s not what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a firefighter. Some people become firefighters and some people are born firefighters. He had been fascinated with it since he was about two years old. We told him if he wanted it bad enough‚ he could do it. Each phase was difficult for him‚ but each phase brought him closer to what he had always dreamed. He became a firefighter.

Nito Guajardo LIVED life. He was the kind of guy who inspired a whole fire station–Station 1‚ Ladder 1–to organize multiple fundraisers just so his family‚ all 22 of them‚ and fiancee‚ could go to Colorado Springs for the IAFF memorial. He was the kind of guy who kept the same best friend since third grade. Even his 3 year old sister looks at his picture and says‚ ‘I miss Nito.’ He loved babies and little kids. He worked in the school daycare when he was in high school. He babysat as a teenager.

He made life fun. He loved practical jokes. He liked to call on the phone and disguise his voice‚ pretending he was a salesman of some sort. He would pick on you until you were so mad and then keep on until you weren’t mad anymore. He refused to allow you to stay mad at him. He loved his family‚ and they love him.

Nito loved what he did. He loved the brotherhood of firefighting‚ and he departed this world in the very way he would have chosen–fighting fires. God was very good to him. He is terribly missed every day. We love him and miss him.