In almost everything he did, Jose Mantecon found a way to include his family, family members said.
When he went surfing, dirt biking, boating or participated in other adventurous activities, he brought his family with him. Over the summer, his wife, Carla Mantecon, and their two kids, Maddie, 12, and Logan, 9, traveled with him from Corona to Lake Mohave and watched Jose wakeboard, while their kids rode inner tubes.
And the day after Jose died in a crash on a Buena Park freeway while working a construction job, the Mantecons were supposed to have a family dirt bike trip in the desert.
“He enjoyed sharing his happiness with his family,” said Carlos Cuin, Jose’s brother-in-law.
California Highway Patrol officers were called around 3:54 a.m. on Friday, March 21, after a 2020 Ram pickup truck traveling westbound on the 91 Freeway just west of the 5 Freeway struck Mantecon, 45, a Caltrans subcontractor.
The 22-year-old driving the pickup truck wasn’t injured and stayed at the scene. No arrests were made, authorities said.
Jose met his wife Carla when they both worked at Bank of America. The first time Carla saw him, she thought he was handsome. They went on their first date a year later and got engaged at a company party, marrying in 2012.
Family members said Jose would give anything to help others and make them feel welcome. He loved to make others laugh and quoted Will Ferrell often.
“He didn’t have a bad bone in him,” Carla said. “He was never judgmental. He would put others’ needs before his own.”
Jose started working in construction about nine years ago, and he often worked the night shift.
Carla said drivers need to pay more attention to speed limits, cones and other signs posted in construction zones to help workers stay safe.
A fundraiser to support Carla and the Mantecons’ kids had raised more than $62,000 as of Tuesday evening.
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