Former Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter’s daughter honors father at 2021 California Rodeo Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The California Rodeo Salinas is back in town, and one of its biggest fans was long-time Salinas resident and former Mayor Joe Gunter. Last summer, the community said goodbye to him after he suddenly passed at the age of 73. Now, with the return of the Rodeo, Gunter’s daughter Terrin found a way to keep his memory alive while sharing one of her dad’s favorite events with someone in the community.

“I thought it was time for there to be a tribute to him, even if it was something as simple as giving away rodeo tickets," said Terrin Eisemann-Gunter, daughter of Joe Gunter.

And that’s exactly what Terrin did! She took to Facebook sharing in a post, that she was able to take over Gunter’s Sponsorship at the Rodeo, and rename it "In Loving Memory of Mayor Joe Gunter."

But, she didn’t stop there. Terrin decided to giveaway four sponsor tent tickets to Thursday's Rodeo to celebrate her dad, asking for those who knew him to share their stories and photos.

"I loved hearing the stories and all the good things people have to say about him. There were a few people that I knew and then a lot of people liked it. Some former people who worked with that moved away and some people that he just met on the street," Eisemann-Gunter.

From there, Terrin selected one of those stories as the winner to receive the four sponsor tent tickets which included parking, food, drinks, and admission. Someone from Salinas, who didn’t personally know Former Mayor Gunter or his family, won. In fact, winner Lupe Ramirez said she wasn’t even there when her family met the beloved mayor. At the time she was in labor with her son and asked her family to care for her dog.

“They had taken her to the dog park. We didn't realize that it was the grand opening of the dog park. And the mayor was there and they had asked everybody to get together for a picture. When I had seen the picture,  me and my spouse at the time, we kind of looked at each other and we laughed because it was a funny moment," Lupe Ramirez, Salinas residents.

Funny because they realized the man in the picture, wasn't any ordinary Joe. It was Joe Gunter, the mayor of Salinas, and that picture made it into a newspaper. For the Ramirez Family, they're happy they did get to meet the man who also loved and treasured attending the rodeo.

"It's a family event that we always go together," said Ramirez.

Gunter’s daughter mentioned there were about 30 stories shared in the Facebook comments of her post. She hopes more people will join in next year.