Antonio “Tony” Castro arrived on Maui on Feb 3, 2007 for vacation and to help his daughter’s family with their relocation to California.
He enjoyed coming to Maui often to visit his daughter and her family and welcomed the change of scenery.
During his stay he enjoyed picking coconuts from the yard, and going for daily morning and late afternoon walks and swims at Keawakapu Beach in South Kihei. He was looking forward to return to his home in Los Angeles, on Thursday, March 15th. The day before he was scheduled to leave, he went for his usual visit to the beach. His daughter and Son-in-Law became concerned when he did not return home at his usual time. His Son-in-Law Mike went to the beach to check on him. Mike did not see Antonio at his usual swimming spot, and began to look along the shore. He was unable to find him, so he went back to his swimming spot to look to see if Tony’s beach bag was there. Mike found it with Tony’s personal belongings inside and became concerned and called 911, then the search began.
Antonio was born on June 13, 1931 in Zacatecas, Mexico. As a teenager he moved to El Paso, Texas with his Grandfather. He worked several jobs, including the family owned restaurant and at his cousins T.V. repair shop. It was there he met and married his wife Socorro, and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1956, and raised what he called “his beautiful family”, which have always been his pride and joy. His seven children are Lourdes, Dora, Sue, Steve, Tony Jr., Rosie and Lidia, plus his Daughter-in-laws Antoinette and Ronni and Son-in-Law Mike. He has always treasured & his 12 grandchildren most of all. From the oldest Michael (25), Jeffrey(21), Nicole(19), Danielle(16), Daniel(15), Andrew(13), Nathan(12), Philip(10), Taylor(10), Alexa(9), Christopher(8) to the youngest Haley(4). His immediate family extended to include his nieces Lilia, Irma, Reina & nephew Pilo. He maintained contact with all his relatives & friends far & near, especially those in Mexico, Texas and California.
Tony and his wife, Socorro celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in November 2005 with lots of family and friends. He enjoyed seeing everyone have fun and enjoying the festivity. Mariachi’s were playing his favorite songs.
Tony enjoys swimming, woodworking, tinkering and repairing things. Watching professional Boxing and Baseball teams (mainly LA Dodgers & Anaheim Angels) are his favorite sports. He has maintained a healthy lifestyle by eating right and exercising regularly. He even tried to encourage others to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Even in California, he would go daily to a Community Pool Center to take a swim & relaxed in the Jacuzzi. His faith is strong and would attend church every Sunday.