Slain forklift operator ‘was there to work, come home, take care of his family’

A day after the Aurora shooting, Vicente Juarez’s children remembered him as a loving and devoted father who put his family above all else.

“Words can’t even describe how good of a dad he was,” his daughter Diana Juarez said through tears on the family’s front lawn Saturday afternoon.

Juarez had three children and eight grandchildren. His daughter said the entire family lived together at the home in Oswego.

He worked as a forklift operator at the Henry Pratt Company for 15 years, according to his children and police.

“He was there to work, come home, take care of his family like any man would,” his son Adrian Juarez said Saturday.

Juarez was a dedicated employee who rarely missed a day of work, family members said.

“My dad was faithful,” his daughter said. “[He] worked even when he was sick. [He’d say] ‘Nope, I gotta go to work because I gotta do my job.’”

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In the 24 hours since the shooting that also left five of Juarez’s coworkers dead including the gunman, his family said they’d received scant information directly from authorities.

Diana Juarez said she didn’t get official word until 5 a.m. Saturday that her father was among the fatalities.

“We don’t know anything besides that he’s gone,” she said. “I’m never gonna see my dad. He’s never gonna come home from work. Never. That’s it. We’re done.”

Diana Juarez added that the family has yet to hear from anyone affiliated with the Henry Pratt Company.

Asked what she expected to hear from the company, she said: “At least a god—n phone call.”

Scott Hall, the president and CEO of Henry Pratt’s parent company, said at a press conference Friday afternoon that he would soon meet with the families of everyone killed in the shooting.