Ramón Magaña

Ramón Magaña

April 9, 1946 - January 21, 2014. Ramón Magaña traversed the bar into the great courtroom in the sky on January 21, 2014, after a brief but heroric struggle against corruption of the mind (brain cancer).  He was born in Modesto and raised in Riverbank at a time when the valley had more orchards than houses,  when one could see the Sierras on one side of the valley and the Coastal Range on the other, and when one could walk across the Tuolumne River on the backs of salmon. Like those halcyon days, he too is now gone. After graduating with the first class of Davis High School, Ramon wrestled for U.C.L.A. before following the revolution up north to U.C. Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor's degree.  He proudly served as a Lt. in the United States Navy, where he turned the helicopter landing pad on his ship into a giant peace sign only once.  He returned to U.C.L.A . to earn his law degree, and he spent the remainder of his life fighting in the trenches for justice on behalf of the poor and downtrodden, and for the rights of all of us, as a criminal defense attorney, first in the Alameda Public Defenders Office and later in Modesto in private practice.  He is preceeded in death by his beloved parents, Salvador & Fermina Magaña.  He is survived by his partner in law and in life, his wife Martha Carlton-Magaña, their three children Christopher, Matthew, & Jane "Summer"  Magaña,  his siblings Cecilia Miller & James Magaña, and his pups Truman & Diego. He can now finally rest without being distrubed by the neighbors' leaf blowers.  Please make donations to Modesto Community Hospice, California Rural Legal Assistance or by living your life in furtherance of the revolution.  Hasta la victoria siempre. A rosary service is at 5 p.m. Wednesday, 1/29/14, at Franklin & Downs McHenry Chapel, 1050 McHenry Ave. in Modesto. A funeral service is scheduled the following day at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis of Rome Church, 2827 Topeka St. in Riverbank.