CENTER – On Nov. 22, a fundraiser dinner was held at Center Consolidated School District’s cafeteria for beloved former teacher and baseball coach Lloyd Garcia. 

More than 300 people attended the spaghetti feed, and many people who were standing in line spoke of how much they cared about Garcia, and hoped he would get better soon. One woman said she hoped that everyone coming together would help Garcia because he was such a special member of the community.   

Garcia spoke about what the dinner meant to him. 

“It was a shock; I didn’t expect it. My son let me know that the baseball coaches in Center wanted to do something. I was very emotionally overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and the number of people who turned out,” an emotional Garcia said.   

Garcia, who began teaching school in 1977 at the Center Consolidated School District, said he loved the years that he worked for the school. 

“I taught for 36 years, and in the process, I coached baseball for two years as an assistant and for 36 years as a head coach. I also coached middle school, girls' basketball and boys' basketball, soccer and football and volleyball. Kind of a Jack of all trades, but a master of none,” Garcia said with a chuckle. 

Although Garcia is retired, he has been back to the school and continues to help with their math program too. 

Garcia said, “The kids are what it's all about for me. They are all such great kids and such a joy to be around.”  

Garcia’s dinner was held to help him with his recent medical costs associated with his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. 

“I went in to see my primary doctor because of backpain. They had me do chest x-rays and spine x-rays to see what was going on. It didn’t really show a lot. A couple of days after that I ended up in the emergency room in Del Norte. They did a cat scan and saw a possible spot on my pancreas. I was scheduled for an ultrasound in Alamosa and went and did that a couple of days later.” 

Garcia said on his way home from the ultrasound he wasn’t feeling good, so he turned back around and went to the emergency room, where they ran some more tests and found a definite spot that they told him had metastasized to his liver. 

“After that they set me up to go to the oncology department the following Monday. I went in for a consultation and that was where they set me up for chemo,” he said. 

Garcia said he has had three rounds of chemotherapy and must have those once per month, and then he gets a break. 

“I have gone through the first month of chemo and it’s been better than what I had heard. I have had some nausea, but it hasn’t been so bad. I do go in next week for a port to be placed, before the next round of chemo,” he said.   

Garcia said he was told it could be two to five more months of chemo. They will reassess him after the third month. 

“They will see if it’s working at three months. There is always the possibility of radiation too, but we have to see what chemo does first. We hope that it does what it’s supposed to,” he said.   

Garcia said he was sure the dinner being held for him would help with the medical expenses ahead for him, and he appreciated the support from the dinner. 

“I want to thank my family and friends and everyone for all the cards, letters, phone calls, texts. A special thank you to our son and daughter for everything they have done. They have set up computers for us to talk to everyone. I want to thank the oncology department at SLV for the care that they have given to everyone. Also, a special thank you to the Poor Boy Car Club, and to the school and I am so grateful for everything everyone has done and continues to do. It has been a God send to have all of that. It’s great to have that kind of support. I didn't realize all that support was there, and it has been amazing,” he said.  

Garcia said that the way he is going to look at everything is by thinking of his mother’s favorite saying. 

“One day at a time, Un Dia a La Vez. It’s all we can do,” he said with a hopeful voice.