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Carlos Basurto
By RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, December 14, 2009 at 4:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 14, 2009 at 4:56 p.m.
Carlos Gomez Basurto, 66, had a varied career but always at the top were his years as a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy and detective.
Basurto, surrounded by family members, died Saturday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
He retired from the Sheriff's Office in 1990 but was especially proud of his two sons who had taken up the calling. Both now are veteran Sonoma County deputies.
"He was always a deputy at heart. He loved everything about the job. The people, they were a second family for him," said Carlos Basurto Jr., a sheriff's sergeant.
Basurto was born in Tucson, Arizona, the youngest of eight children. At age three he arrived in Sonoma County with an older sister after his parents divorced, said his son.
Basurto was raised in Geyserville and graduated from Healdsburg High School. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force and returned to Healdsburg and worked for a Northern California railroad company.
On an August evening in 1967 a young woman named Martha approached him at the Healdsburg Plaza during the city's centennial celebration. She had mistaken him for one of his brothers whom she had known in high school. The couple fell in love and married. At his death they had been married just shy of 42 years.
In 1971 Basurto became a Healdsburg police officer and in 1974 moved to the Sheriff's Office.
Retired sheriff's captain Mike Brown of Santa Rosa was a close friend of 36 years and a partner of Basurto's for many of their years working together.
"He was very instinctive," Brown said. "He knew a lot about the crooks on the streets. I learned a lot from working with Carlos."
As the only Spanish-speaking deputy in those years, Basurto was called a to help on many cases, Brown said.
Basurto particularly liked being a detective, his son said. "He enjoyed the hunt, looking for a bad guy, catching him and getting him to talk."
Son Reynaldo Cajeme Basurto is a deputy working in Windsor. "My brother and I are trying to follow in his footsteps but we're never going to fill his shoes," said Basurto Jr.
A medical issue led to Basurto's retirement in 1990. He worked in security for Ferrari Carrano Winery in Healdsburg for about 15 years.
Basurto spent much of his free time with his large, extended family, especially with his five grandchildren.
Fishing, too, was a favorite pastime. "Anywhere he could put a line in water. It didn't matter where," his eldest son said.
Basurto was a patient, longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Raiders.
"Dad was very patriotic. He was totally American through-and-through but at the same time he never forgot his culture, Mexican and also part Yaki. He was proud of that," Basurto Jr. said.
"My dad was very outgoing, very friendly, very helpful person," he said. "He also was very strict and grumpy at times, but he was loving the heck out of you."
In addition to his sons, he is survived by his wife Martha Basurto of Geyserville; daughter Erica McKinney of Cloverdale; brothers William Basurto of Healdsburg and David and Raul Basurto, both of Tucson, Ariz.; sisters Belen Miranda and Viola Ahumada, both of Tucson and Eva Novella of Healdsburg and five grandchildren.
Viewing will be 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Fred Young Mortuary in Cloverdale. Viewing at St. John's Catholic Church in Healdsburg will be from 10-11 a.m. Friday followed by a mass.
***********************************************
Carlos Basurto
By RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, December 14, 2009 at 4:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 14, 2009 at 4:56 p.m.
Carlos Gomez Basurto, 66, had a varied career but always at the top were his years as a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy and detective.
Basurto, surrounded by family members, died Saturday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
He retired from the Sheriff's Office in 1990 but was especially proud of his two sons who had taken up the calling. Both now are veteran Sonoma County deputies.
"He was always a deputy at heart. He loved everything about the job. The people, they were a second family for him," said Carlos Basurto Jr., a sheriff's sergeant.
Basurto was born in Tucson, Arizona, the youngest of eight children. At age three he arrived in Sonoma County with an older sister after his parents divorced, said his son.
Basurto was raised in Geyserville and graduated from Healdsburg High School. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force and returned to Healdsburg and worked for a Northern California railroad company.
On an August evening in 1967 a young woman named Martha approached him at the Healdsburg Plaza during the city's centennial celebration. She had mistaken him for one of his brothers whom she had known in high school. The couple fell in love and married. At his death they had been married just shy of 42 years.
In 1971 Basurto became a Healdsburg police officer and in 1974 moved to the Sheriff's Office.
Retired sheriff's captain Mike Brown of Santa Rosa was a close friend of 36 years and a partner of Basurto's for many of their years working together.
"He was very instinctive," Brown said. "He knew a lot about the crooks on the streets. I learned a lot from working with Carlos."
As the only Spanish-speaking deputy in those years, Basurto was called a to help on many cases, Brown said.
Basurto particularly liked being a detective, his son said. "He enjoyed the hunt, looking for a bad guy, catching him and getting him to talk."
Son Reynaldo Cajeme Basurto is a deputy working in Windsor. "My brother and I are trying to follow in his footsteps but we're never going to fill his shoes," said Basurto Jr.
A medical issue led to Basurto's retirement in 1990. He worked in security for Ferrari Carrano Winery in Healdsburg for about 15 years.
Basurto spent much of his free time with his large, extended family, especially with his five grandchildren.
Fishing, too, was a favorite pastime. "Anywhere he could put a line in water. It didn't matter where," his eldest son said.
Basurto was a patient, longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Raiders.
"Dad was very patriotic. He was totally American through-and-through but at the same time he never forgot his culture, Mexican and also part Yaki. He was proud of that," Basurto Jr. said.
"My dad was very outgoing, very friendly, very helpful person," he said. "He also was very strict and grumpy at times, but he was loving the heck out of you."
In addition to his sons, he is survived by his wife Martha Basurto of Geyserville; daughter Erica McKinney of Cloverdale; brothers William Basurto of Healdsburg and David and Raul Basurto, both of Tucson, Ariz.; sisters Belen Miranda and Viola Ahumada, both of Tucson and Eva Novella of Healdsburg and five grandchildren.
Viewing will be 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Fred Young Mortuary in Cloverdale. Viewing at St. John's Catholic Church in Healdsburg will be from 10-11 a.m. Friday followed by a mass.