Guillermo Barreto Vega

Guillermo Barreto Vega passed away of natural causes, peacefully in his sleep on the morning of July 23, 2021 at his home in Napa, California at the age of 75.  While his passing was unexpected and met with shock and grief, his life was full of love, passion and fulfillment. His family gathered on July 29, 2021 at Tulocay Cemetery to honor, remember and celebrate his life.  His funeral included a full recital of the Rosary in Spanish, and military honors and presentation of the American flag to his wife Maria Martha Montenegro Barreto.

We give thanks for his life and wish him well now that his time in this world has come to an end. For Guillermo, the journey is now beginning. But for his family, there is loss, grief and pain. Every one of us has been affected - perhaps in small ways, or perhaps in transformative ones - by Guillermo. His life mattered to us all.

Guille was born on January 31st, 1946 in Piura, Peru, the son of Abelardo Barreto and Luz Genera Vega. He graduated high school from Colegio Salesianos in Piura, and at the age of 17, in 1963 he came to the United States, to Kansas City, Missouri and began his studies at Rockhurst College.  At the age of 19, he entered the U.S. Army and completed basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and was deployed to Vietnam.  He returned from Vietnam in 1968 and used the G.I. Bill benefits to earn his college degree in Economics from Central Missouri University.  In his post-war days in the 1960s Guille entered the civil rights, human rights, and protest movements.  He became a pacifist and later worked to end wars in Central America. He always believed in peace. 

He loved the music of the 1960s, especially the Beatles.  In 1971 he married Kathryn Guy, from Columbia, Missouri.  They moved to Puerto Rico where he completed his graduate studies in Economic Planning at the University of Puerto Rico.  Their son Matthew Alejandro was born in Puerto Rico in 1976, and in 1977 they returned to Kansas City.  In 1978 his daughter Natascha Marisol was born and the family moved to Topeka, Kansas.  In 1982 Guillermo became a naturalized U.S. citizen and he voted in every single election from 1982 to 2020. He was divorced and remarried and divorced again. He fathered and loved two more children, Carlos Gabriel, and Claudia Daniella. His work took him to Mexico, Nicaragua and Brazil, and in 1989 he married Maria Martha Montenegro, his wife of 32 years.  Over the years he worked for the government of Puerto Rico, a public health agency in Kansas, and then for the United Nations, the World Bank and international aid agencies. He was awarded the prestigious Kellogg Fellowship, which nurtured his love for books,  travel, and learning. His work took him to Rio de Janeiro Brazil and in 1991 Renata Antonia was born to Guille and Maria Martha.  Later, they settled in San Antonio, Texas, a city he called home for 13 years, before moving to beautiful Napa, California in 2015.

Today he is survived by his wife Maria Martha, brother Larry Barreto (Paso Robles, CA) and his two sisters Lucy Fish (Lee’s Summit, MO) and Betty Barreto (Paso Robles, CA). His children Matthew (Agoura Hills, CA), Natascha (Austin, TX), Carlos (Austin, TX), Claudia (Austin, TX), Renata (Berkeley, CA), and his five grandchildren, Daniel Javier and Clara Victoria Barreto (Agoura Hills, CA) and Marisol Olivia, Juliana Soledad and Xavier Joaquin Romero Barreto (Austin, TX).  His sister Maria Cecilia is already resting in peace.  Joining the family in attendance at the funeral were his nephews Daniel Manco (Austin, TX), Benjamin Fish (Raytown, MO), Jonathan Fish (Lee’s Summit, MO), Trydon Fromhold (Paso Robles, CA) and Jose del Carmen (Napa, CA) and nieces Erika Fromhold (Paso Robles, CA), Jessica Barreto Gutierrez (Dallas, TX) and Grace del Carmen (Boston, MA).  His mother-in-law Gloria Montenegro (Napa, CA), sister-in-law Karla Grace Montenegro (Napa, CA) and brother-in-law Lee Fish (Lee’s Summit, MO) were also in attendance.

It is important for us to collectively acknowledge and accept that the world has fundamentally changed with the passing of Guillermo Barreto Vega. We are all grieving. Life will not be the same - nor should it be. Together, let us open our hearts and commemorate the impact Guillermo had on all of us.

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