Juan was a great friend to many, and my dearest friend all through high school. We went to the prom together and we were voted "Bobsie Twins" in the yearbook. Juan was the reason I was in Play Production. He was the coolest, best-dressed person I knew and he taught me the meaning of the word "urbane," which is how he described himself.

Juan did not get to college, but was a success in business because of his strong and persuasive writing skills and his fluency in both Spanish and English. He worked for AIDS Project L.A. for a few years and then other non-profit AIDS organizations such as "Being Alive" which reached out to the Latin Community.

Juan loved my family and we loved him. My kids called him Uncle Juan when they were little and he spoiled them. In the last few years of his life, Juan became reclusive and cut off from most of his friends. His longtime partner, Mike, had died from an acute heart infection in 2000, and Juan never was able to recover fully from that sudden grief. I miss him dearly.

Submitted by Hillary Dimond Miller