HUNTINGTON PARK — Residents who immigrated to this city from Mexico and Cuba and who overcame numerous obstacles to succeed have been honored by the City Council in observance of Immigrants Day Oct. 28.

Each council member Oct. 19 nominated a person for Immigrant of the Year at the request of resident Nick “the Greek” Ioannidis, a Greek immigrant who has long celebrated Oct. 28 as Immigrants Day.

Honored by the council Oct. 19 were: Jose and Nancy Guardarrama, nominated by Vice Mayor Juan Noguez; Leonard Lopez, nominated by Councilman Andy Molina; Maria Isabel Juarez Montero, nominated by Elba Guerrero; Rosa Perez, nominated by Councilwoman Ofelia Hernandez; and Narciso Sanchez, nominated by Mayor Mario Gomez.

The Guardarramas were married Nov. 20, 1960 in Santa Clara, Cuba, on the heels of the Cuban revolution which saw Fidel Castro take power. Jose was sent to a prison work camp after he asked to leave Cuba in 1963 with his wife and two daughters. Nancy lost her only means of employment and faced the loss of her accounting degree.

Jose was released from prison in 1970 and again sought political asylum for himself and his family. This time it was granted. They moved to Huntington Park where their third child, Joseph, was born in 1974.

The couple began acquiring and managing apartments. Nancy became a real estate broker. They helped many people purchase their first homes.

Jose returned to the glass and mirror trade he learned in Cuba and in 1982 earned a glazing contractor’s license. He has operated All New Glass and Mirror Company, Inc. in Hollywood for 27 years.

Lopez was born in a small, agricultural village in northern Mexico, El Noria, Durango; and came to California at age 16, where he landed a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Santa Ana. He learned all aspects of the restaurant business and in 1972 opened a coffee shop in Los Angeles.

He came to Huntington Park in 1990, where he opened a restaurant on Pacific Boulevard. For the past several years he has owned and operated the popular Leonardo’s on Alameda Street. He and his wife, Iris, have been married more than 35 years. They have six children and six grandchildren.

Montero came to the United States as an illegal immigrant when she was a young girl. She was born in Mexico and raised there by relatives until age 8, when she illegally crossed into the United States to join her mother, who had migrated here previously. She traveled with no money and only Mexican candy in her purse.

“I climbed hills, crossed black waters and endured jail time before I would lay eyes on my mother,” she recalled. “I am now a citizen of the United States and am extremely grateful for the opportunities that have been given to me by this wonderful country. I am a woman who lives and thrives to make this country a better place.”

Perez was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and came to the United States at age 13 with her parents. She graduated from Huntington Park High School and East Los Angeles College. In 1978, she married Raul Perez, who served on the City Council from 1990 to his death from cancer in 1996.

She later served as elected city treasurer from 1997 to 1998. She also served on the city-appointed Health and Education Commission and is currently on the Planning Commission.

She was the charter president of the Huntington Park Jaycee Women’s group in 1979, a member of the Huntington Park Junior Women’s Club and was named Citizen of the Year for the San Gabriel Valley region in 1984.

After her husband died, Perez became active with the American Cancer Society and has been active with the society’s Relay for Life event in Huntington Park the past five years.

The mother of two sons, she earned a bachelor of science degree in public administration from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Sanchez came from Cuba in 1967 with his wife and two young daughters after eight years of seeking a visa from the Cuban government.

The family was assisted by the Catholic church, which donated $100 to them.

They settled in Los Angeles were the family found a basement apartment for 75 a month.

Sanchez began work as a mechanic. After his son was born in 1968 he saved his money and was able to purchase a gas station in Los Angeles

The family moved to Bell, then Bell Gardens. Sanchez went into a partnership with Al’s Body Shop in Huntington Park in 1970 and moved his family into the city in 1974.

He soon became sole owner of Al’s Body Shop. His wife, Nerva, a son and a daughter went to work with him.

The family went through a traumatic ordeal in 2008 when Nerva was stricken with cancer and not expected to live. But she fought and survived.

The couple now have three children and seven grandchildren.