Once homeless dad has chance reunion with sons

Jim Walsh | The Arizona Republic

Show Caption Hide Caption Once homeless man reunited with sons Fire sparks chance at redemption for Mesa, Ariz., father.

Son saw article online about long-lost dad being honored for helping to fight a fire at a soup kitchen

Marcial Verdejo Jr. has past drug convictions and was once homeless for five years

His sons have forgiven him and are planning an in-person reunion

MESA, Ariz. -- When Marcial Verdejo III was 12, his father left home one day and never came back.

Over the next 18 years, Marcial would occasionally Google his father, trying to find out what happened to him, but with no luck.

Then not long ago, he saw a short news story on a Phoenix news station's website about a fire at a soup kitchen.

Although Marcial had not seen his father in nearly two decades, he recognized him in the picture that accompanied the news item. The distinctive scar on his father's chin confirmed it.

In the story, Marcial Verdejo Jr., a maintenance man at Paz de Cristo shelter in Mesa, was being honored by the Mesa Fire Department for helping to fight a fire until firefighters arrived.

The younger Marcial, of Caledonia, Wis., called Paz de Cristo and finally got what he wanted for nearly 20 years, a conversation with his father.

Excited by his discovery, the son sent a link on Facebook to his older half brother, Jean Pierre Verdijo, in Austin.

Jean Pierre, whose mother changed his last name, also called Paz de Cristo and had a long, emotional conversation with his father. Jean Pierre plans a reunion in July.

The sons' journey toward an unlikely reunion is a story of loss and forgiveness in a family shattered by a father's two drug arrests, followed by his prison sentence and five years of homelessness.

For Marcial and Jean Pierre, finding their father is a special gift. For the father, it is an opportunity to reunite with his family, knowing that he had let his children down during years of absence.

"It's closure. I needed to know what happened, why we got separated,'' the younger Marcial said. "It's like a huge weight off my shoulders. I am glad he is alive. I didn't know if he was dead or not.''

Jean Pierre, a teacher and artist, had not seen his father for 19 years. He realized during a visit to his father's house in the early 1990s that his father had substance-abuse problems, that his mother had shielded him from his father years earlier for good reason.

But Marcial and Jean Pierre have forgiven their father.

"Everyone deserves a second chance,'' the younger Marcial said. "I have a daughter. I want her to know her grandfather.''

Jean Pierre said he has learned how to forgive his father through his own life experiences, including the breakup of a relationship with the mother of his 8-year-old son and being a single father. He is engaged to another woman who is pregnant with his second child.

"I have forgiven him. I have learned through the nature of life,'' Jean Pierre said. "I have a willingness to connect with him and build a relationship. It's not to be forgotten that there's a flame that burns. I could feel the warmth in his heart.''

A third son, Anthony, 27, said he is still sorting out his emotions after the initial shock of hearing that his brothers had suddenly found their father.

Anthony said that, emotionally, he had accepted long ago that he would never see his father again.

"I just kind of put it away, like it wouldn't happen again,'' Anthony said.

Marcial Jr., 61, said he was just trying to save his job at Paz de Cristo when he saw the flames spreading to a kitchen, where volunteers prepare meals for 300 homeless and working poor people a day. The homeless people eat on picnic tables in an austere dining room next to the kitchen.

Marcial Jr. told another employee, Elidia Beltran, to call 911. He grabbed a garden hose and used it to knock down the fire as best as possible until Mesa firefighters arrived to put it out.

He said he had been homeless for five years until he was hired by Paz de Cristo about six years ago. The job allowed him to rent an apartment and live a better life.

Although the father said he is shocked by his unexpected reconnection with his sons, he views it as an unexpected blessing.

Marcial Jr. said he had no idea Jean Pierre lived in Texas, but he had a general idea that Marcial III, Anthony and Jaina, a daughter who has special needs, went to live with relatives in Wisconsin after his arrest.

Marcial III said he is now his sister's caregiver. He has a daughter, Soriah, 8, works in a restaurant and recently graduated with a degree in information technology. Anthony works at a retail store but also graduated from college with a degree in fashion design.

"I sort of knew where they were, but I did not feel emotionally or mentally that I could get in touch with them,'' Marcial Jr. said, because he hadn't been part of their lives for so long and wondered how he would be received.

"It's not that I was that bad of a father, it's just that I made a mistake,'' he said. "I felt hurt and sad about what happened in my life. It's brought me closer to them.

"Now, with the fire, I am back together with my family. I did not expect that to happen.''