Chamber’s 2005 Volunteer of the Year Joe Duarte honored for 15
years of service to Gilroy
By Sheila Sanchez, Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – The secret to Joseph Duarte’s humanity dwells deep within the man, but he thinks it’s found in a mysterious philosophy.
For a man who’s been deeply touched by tragedy – his youngest son was murdered in 1985 – the 63-year-old Duarte seems to have found the necessary healing in the field of alternative medicine.
That horrific life-changing experience two decades ago led Duarte to perfect his Concept-Therapy understanding and it fostered a desire to work to help others.
For his work this year and during the past 15 years, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce has honored him with the 2005 Volunteer of the Year Award.
“If you need help, I’ll help you,” Duarte said, seated in his 2,200-square-feet farmhouse, located on 58 acres of land on rural Buena Vista Road. “I enjoy helping people.”
To find strength he turns to daily meditations of positive thinking and what he would like manifested in his life and in the lives of others.
In 1968, he began taking classes from the Concept-Therapy Institute after a friend’s wife told him about it.
“It made so much sense that I kept studying,” he says. “I was going to meetings sometimes three times a week. I liked the concept of working with ideas, taking religion and science, and combining them.”
Born and raised in San Jose, Duarte grew up on a farm where his family grew pears, tomatoes, carrots and lima beans on more than 100 acres.
He attended Santa Clara High School and after graduation enrolled at San Jose City College, soon discovering he couldn’t stand being confined in a room for long periods of time.
So he began working in swimming pool construction in the South Bay and then for a food machinery corporation and in 1960, he married and had two sons, James and Joe.
In 1970 he landed a job at Pacific Gas & Electric. He would work in gas construction, as a machinist and driving heavy equipment. He spent his last years with the company at the Moss Landing power plant, retiring in 1994.
In 1974 he married his second wife, Joyce, who had a small daughter from a previous marriage that Duarte helped raise.
His son James Raymond was murdered in September 1985 outside the house Duarte still lives in with his wife, daughter Tina Riley and 14-year-old grandson James.
“I have no desire to keep those thoughts in my head. You have to try to move on,” Duarte said. “There are times when it seems like it just happened yesterday.”
In 1990, he purchased an antique shop in Gilroy, Monterey Street Antiques, for his wife. They closed the shop in January 2005 due to the decline in the economy.
That same year, he started his volunteer work. It began when his wife asked him to help set up for the August Antique Brew Fest event, which consisted of street shows and many food and antique vendors. He also set up for the Father’s Day antique show every year. With his pickup and trailer, he built a makeshift soda pop booth to generate income for the events.
He also helped with the now-defunct Cinco de Mayo celebration, getting bales of straws and positioning them so people could rest and enjoy eating and listening to the music.
In the summer of 2000, he began volunteering for the Gilroy Garlic Festival. He starts setting up at 5:30am four days before the celebration begins. He helps build fences, platforms, move pallets and other equipment to help set up the three beer booths.
By Friday morning, when the festival opens, he’s there from before sunrise to way past sundown serving beer and then helping with the “tear down” operation of the booths.
“I enjoy being around people,” Duarte said. “Otherwise I would just be sitting home.”
A few other examples of his volunteerism include dressing as Santa Claus to visit local children’s homes and senior centers. He donned the costume one year for the city’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
For two years, with his Harley motorcycle and sidecar, he dressed as the Grinch and rode in the parade for the Christmas tree lighting event.
Gilroy resident Tom Valenta, who volunteers for the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, said Duarte can always be counted on to help.
“No matter what you want done, he’ll do it,” Valenta said. “If he says he’s going to be there, he’ll be there.”
For the Chamber’s Christmas program, Duarte stores all the decorations year-round at his property free of charge, bringing them out, unloading them and storing them back after the show. He also helps put up the decorations.
“He highly deserves the honor,” Valenta said. “I enjoy working with him.”
John Tomasello, a member of the Gilroy Downtown Business Association, admires Duarte’s personality.
“He’s so easy going and great to work with on all our downtown events,” Tomasello said. “He’s been so helpful with everything. He’s there for us anytime we need him.”
Concerned he would get bored in retirement, he started taking classes through the mail to learn more about antiques. He learned how to make jewelry, blow glass, make dolls, repair porcelain and bronze statues. Years later he discovered the Concept-Theory foundation, which opened the door to alternative healing that helps family members and friends reduce stress and feel better.
In Joe Duarte’s world, the laws of self-discovery, adaptation and mind power apply to obtain a life of health, happiness, peace and prosperity. In his world, there’s no room for negativity.
Upcoming
Look for the fifth and final feautre on the Large Business of the Year, St. Louise Regional Hospital on Friday, Jan. 20.
