Bay View man shares Latino culture through community ofrenda

The massive altar outside Jason Gonzalez's Bay View home has grown over the years.

The scores of candles, crucifixes and photos, strung together with wire and paper clips, appear to many onlookers to have swallowed the entire front porch.

This is the third year he’s featured it. And it’s not likely to be last, given the sentimental and cultural weight he says is behind it.

The altar, also referred to in Spanish as an “ofrenda,” is a pillar of Latin American tradition that showcases pictures of late loved ones with objects that pay tribute to them. The ofrenda is usually set up weeks prior to Day of the Dead on Nov. 1, a holiday celebrating life and death all over Latin America.

At the center of the altar, a picture of his mother, Judy Gonzalez, sits along with her glasses and her favorite T-Shirt.

Gonzalez built a small, humble ofrenda in 2020 when his mother unexpectedly died at 64. It was his way of honoring her and keeping alive one of his mother’s traditions.

“Everything just happened very quickly,” Gonzalez said. “And so it just helped me with the grieving process.”

The first ofrenda Gonzalez built was just a few levels tall. It featured items he found at Goodwill and around the house.

A year later, his grandmother died and the ofrenda grew. He included a photo of her and a rosary. He often watched her pray as he grew up.

Others in Bay View also would join in. A few curious neighbors asked to hang photos of their loved ones on the structure.

Nearly 80 neighbors have added photos of their late loved ones this year. While the photos of his mother and grandmother remain the centerpiece, Gonzalez took the community’s interest as an opportunity to share his culture with others.

“This year, I created it with the entire community in mind,” he said. “I had to create more space for people to put pictures.”

Sharing culture

Gonzalez has long been accustomed to ofrendas, having grown up around Latino culture — his mother and grandparents were of Mexican heritage and his father is Puerto Rican.

His mother learned from her mother, who picked up the tradition from her parents and so on.

It was customary to have an altar around, especially in October.

"We just kind of grew up doing the things we do, not knowing that they were different,” he said.

Gonzalez says he is aware he lives in a predominately white neighborhood. Building the ofrenda was not just a way to honor family, but an opportunity to teach his neighbors about his roots.

Bay View has a Latino population of just 14%, according to a Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog.

"I think the only reference point of an ofrenda is 'Coco,' " he said, referring to the Academy Award-winning animated Disney film. "So it's just giving (the community) a little bit more of a real example of what it looks like in real life."

Neighbors often ask questions as they walk by Gonzalez’s home. They’re curious about the altar’s meaning and the significance of the holiday.

“In Milwaukee, we definitely have clear existing lines and clear existing neighborhoods that you're supposed to live in,” Gonzalez said. “And what this allows me to do is to just kind of break from that, to invite everybody into the celebration that really is about communion.”

A bonding experience

Gonzalez made multiple trips to Goodwill through the year to collect objects that eventually would be used in the ofrenda.

This year, he started the DIY project in August to have it ready by early October. It became a bonding experience for him and his 4-year-old daughter, Alejandrina.

"Putting it together … gave us time together," he said. "She didn't know the difference between work and play. So it was just a time for us to do that with one another."

Gonzalez is eager for his daughter to learn about his culture and her grandmother and great-grandmother.

“She sees these elements that then gives me an opportunity to get a little bit deeper into what these things mean to her as much as I can to a 4-year-old,” he said.

Small project, big results

Judy Gonzalez was born to Mexican parents in southern Texas. Her parents later moved to Milwaukee for work.

Her greatest love was that of her grandkids, Gonzalez said.

“That’s all she talked about,” he said. “She would do anything for them.”

She worked as a teacher’s aide in the Milwaukee Public School district and retired from Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School years ago.

Gonzalez remembers his mother bringing home projects from school. If a teacher asked for help with a small task, Judy Gonzalez would turn it into a much larger project.

“She always took a small project and made it really big, with a lot of creativity,” he said. “I didn’t realize this … but that’s essentially what happened without me knowing. (The ofrenda) was a small little thing, with three stairs and then it just kind of grew.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bay View ofrenda illustrates Latino culture