Edward “Eddie” Michael Cruz was born in Santa Ana, CA, on February 24, 1947, to Manuel and Lydia Cruz. Eddie was the second of six children; one of two boys, and grew up in Santa Ana. He attended Fremont Elementary and Our Lady of the Pillar School and played baseball with a little league group, as a youngster. He attend Smedly Jr. High and later Santa Ana High School. While in high school, he was introduced to woodshop, where most likely, his love for wood working was discovered. One of his first projects was making benches for his cousins, Felix and Reuben. Eddie had a passion for model train sets and enjoyed building elaborate landscapes, and when he wasn’t tinkering with his trains he was riding around town on his mini bike. To fund some of his hobbies, Eddie took a job at a local store stocking shelves and, for many years, airbrushed characters on t-shirts that he sold to his family and friends. Eddie truly had the gift of art and creativity and enjoyed working with his hands.
As a teenager, Eddie was close to his parents and older sister, Henrietta, and when the reality of her disappearance, in 1960, set in, it left a devastating and lasting impact on the young 13 year old. Until his death, Eddie never lost the will and determination to find Henrietta or answers to her disappearance. Two years later, in 1962, another painful blow came when Eddie’s father, at 49 years of age, suddenly passed away. Eddie quickly became the man of the house. He took another job at Jolly Rogers Restaurant, across from Disneyland, but unfortunately, his employment there didn’t last long, after he opened a can of peaches and hungrily indulged. Needless to say he was fired on the spot.
By 1965, his mother had remarried and Eddie moved out of the house, got married himself, and had his first of three children. His step-father helped Eddie secure a job at Sylvania Lighting Company, installing lights for customers all over town. Beginning in 1977, while working full-time at Sylvania, Eddie began a wood working operation, in the evenings, from his garage. It was here where Eddie began his first business, E&C Manufacturing, with a short-term business partner. As business grew, Eddie quit his job at Sylvania, re-located his operation to a small space in Fullerton, CA and eventually, in 1981, to a 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse. At the peak of E&C Manufacturing’s, success, in 1982, Eddie employed more than 100 employees, making 4-piece water bed frames, 6-drawer pedestals, and eventually dressers, chests, and nightstands; selling his product using his van both as a mobile warehouse and storefront.
In his mid-30’s, Eddie made the best decision of his life when he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, as his Savior, but he unfortunately, didn’t always make the best decisions when it came to personal and professional relationships and his business. In 1985, he was forced to close the doors at E&C Manufacturing, and, at 38 years old, he moved back home with his mother in Santa Ana. Determined to remain self-employed, Eddie began making children’s furniture and manicure table stations for nail salons, selling his product at swap meets and other various locations. During this time, Eddie grew to love the outdoors. He took up archery, enjoyed camping, and spending time at the shooting range with his buddy Frank and other church friends, and who could forget his love for cars!
In 1990, Eddie and his mother pulled up roots in Santa Ana and moved to Riverside, CA. Around 1996, he began another business, making Styrofoam signs for companies, again out of his garage. He provided this service until 2003, when his mother, Lydia, passed away. Just as devastating as the loss of his father and sister Henrietta, losing his mother left a hole in his heart, that led him down a path of solitude and purposeful unemployment. By 2004, the home in Riverside was sold and he spent the next 15 years moving from rented room to rented room. By 2019, he was homeless.
For ten distressing months, his younger sister’s Arlene and Sylvia, continually expressed concern for their brother, praying for his protection, covering over his physical and emotional needs, and a change of heart. When he passed away, Arlene and Sylvia mourned deeply for their brother, believing he spent his last days alone, uncared for and dejected. Boy, were they wrong! The Lord heard their cries, and in His sovereignty, answered them in extraordinary ways.
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