Richard Vasquez and his late mother, Margie, were fixtures at Goodland Barbershop and other nearby businesses off Hollister Avenue in western Goleta. Margie was struck by a car and killed as the inseparable pair crossed Hollister the evening of Dec. 12, leaving Richard, who has Down syndrome, to navigate his new reality alone.
Richard Vasquez and his late mother, Margie, were fixtures at Goodland Barbershop and other nearby businesses off Hollister Avenue in western Goleta. Margie was struck by a car and killed as the inseparable pair crossed Hollister the evening of Dec. 12, leaving Richard, who has Down syndrome, to navigate his new reality alone. Credit: Goodland Barbershop photo

They were always together. And she loved him, until her last breath.

Marjorie Vasquez and her adult son, Richard, shuffled around Goleta daily. Richard was always ahead of her, and Margie followed, trying to keep up with him.

From their early days in the 1970s on Daley Street where Richard grew up, to the mobile home park near Ellwood where they most recently lived, the duo was as much a part of Goleta as the Monarch butterflies that fly in once year.

If you spent any time in western Goleta, you saw them, probably wondered about them, and their presence was as familiar as the daily sunrise.

Goleta has Lake Los Carneros, its Google AI campus and Costco, among other notable spots, but Margie and Richard, as they were known around town, towered over all of them.

But everything changed around 6 p.m. Dec. 12.

Margie Vasquez, 86, was hit by a car while walking across the 7300 block of Hollister Avenue near Lowell Way, a little more than a half-mile west of Storke Road.

In front of her was her son, Richard, who was not struck.

Margie was killed in the collision, as Richard turned around and saw the panicked aftermath.

The collision is under investigation by the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Major Accident Response Team, but authorities say alcohol or drugs were not factors.

The Santa Barbara woman driving the vehicle that struck Vasquez remained at the scene.

A woman pedestrian was fatally injured Tuesday night when she was struck by a vehicle on the 7300 block of Hollister Avenue in Goleta.
The crash scene in the 7300 block of Hollister Avenue, near Lowell Way in Goleta. Credit: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department photo

The incident was more than the tragic death of an elderly woman.

Richard, in his 50s, lives with Down syndrome. Margie cared for him, full time, around the clock. She was walking toward him, even until her last breath.

“I am going miss her,” said Diego Aguilera, owner of the nearby Goodland Barbershop, where Margie and Richard would hang out, often daily.

Like the WWE wrestlers that Richard much admired so much, they were a tag team, always together, rarely seen apart.

The two lived in a mobile home park off Hollister Avenue, and the nearby commercial shopping center, occupied by businesses such as the barber shop, Monarch Hair Studio and Cal Taco, was their home away from home.

Richard’s school, REM California, is next door. The center is right next to where Margie died.

“It was like their second home,” Aguilera said.

He would pop in to hug the hair stylists a Monarch Hair Studio, eat lunch at Cal Taco, and then hang out with the guys at the barber shop. It’s where he got his haircuts, and when Richard would agitate people in the area, the barber shop was his safe space.

“He was a little mischievous,” joked Ricardo Barbosa, a barber.

The barbers were with him when his mother died.

Aguilera had just finished giving a customer a haircut, and then walked to the jiu-jitsu gym he owns in the shopping center. The customer saw the post-crash chaos, and rushed back into the barber shop to tell Barbosa.

Barbosa ran to the crash scene and saw Margie’s crumpled body lying in the street.

“It was surreal,” he told Noozhawk. “I just felt bad for Richard.”

Richard’s fists were clenched.

“I heard him say ‘mama, mama,’” he recalled.

Barbosa brought Richard back to the barber shop. The customer then ran to tell Aguilera.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Aguilera said.

He raced to the street to confirm it was Margie, and then headed back to the barber shop.

The two men and a third barber, Gabriel Guzman, tried to comfort Richard and keep him busy — and his mind off of what had just happened.

Aguilera gave Richard a haircut, a familiar gesture, to help calm him down. The barbers stayed with him until the police arrived.

“She was a nice lady,” Aguilera said, showing a reporter a few Christmas cards that Margie had given him over the years.

He’d known her since he was 10 years old. Now he’s 37.

Richard Vasquez gets his haircuts at Goodland Barbershop, his safe space. After he witnessed his mother’s death, the barbers brought him back to the shop and gave him a trim to help calm him down.
Richard Vasquez gets his haircuts at Goodland Barbershop, his safe space. After he witnessed his mother’s death, the barbers brought him back to the shop and gave him a trim to help calm him down. Credit: Goodland Barbershop photo

The community was stunned when Margie died. What would happen to Richard?

Richard’s father, who used to own a shoe shop in Old Town Goleta, is dead. Nextdoor filled up with condolences and reactions. An older brother flew into town and stayed a couple of weeks.

Richard now lives at Hillside House in Santa Barbara.

“Hillside was contacted by Tri-Counties Regional Center immediately after Richie’s mother death and asked if we could provide him with an emergency placement,” Rosemary Rice, program director at Hillside House, told Noozhawk.

“Hillside was able to provide this service, enabling Richie to remain in his home community. Richie is currently thriving and able to call Hillside his home.”

The people who know Richard from the commercial shopping center agree.

“I see him happy right now,” Aguilera said. “He’s doing all right.”

While nothing can replace a mother’s love, according to multiple interviews with people who knew Richard, his situation, in some ways has improved.

“It was a lot of responsibility on her, especially for her age,” Aguilera said.

Richard still comes in every morning and sweeps up the barber shop. They give him money for “soda and sweets.”

“He likes to get paid right away,” Aguilera said.

Goodland Barbershop barber Diego Aguilera, left, is relieved that his friend, Richard Vasquez, is doing better after the tragic loss of his mother. “I see him happy right now,” he says. “He’s doing all right.” Richard still frequents and does odd jobs around the shop — and likes to get paid right away, he adds.
Goodland Barbershop barber Diego Aguilera, left, is relieved that his friend, Richard Vasquez, is doing better after the tragic loss of his mother. “I see him happy right now,” he says. “He’s doing all right.” Richard still frequents and does odd jobs around the shop — and likes to get paid right away, he adds. Credit: Goodland Barbershop photo

The women at Monarch Hair Studio tell similar stories.

“They would come in frequently, on a daily basis, and say hi to us,” stylist Caroline Whitney said.

“Richard would spend time cleaning our salon. They were just like family members.”

Whitney remembers seeing them often: “They walked together, but Richard was always ahead of her. He’s faster and she was a little older.”

Richard still comes in, but not as frequently since he no longer lives in the area. He gives the crew hugs. Whitney said it seems like he is doing OK.

“It was hard for Margie to take care of him,” she said. “She was 86.”

She’ll always remember Margie’s smile.

“I am just going to miss her sweet little face,” Whitney said. “She was very kind and thoughtful.”

Carol Thomas, the salon’s owner, said the two came in all the time, and she cut her hair. She will miss seeing them together, but he still comes in and gives hugs.

“It’s great to see him, he’s doing good,” Thomas said. “He’s well cared for.”

The people in the shopping center remember Margie’s laugh and her dancing. They said the two would occasionally get frustrated with one another, and sometimes argue, but they loved each other.

“She made the most of what she had,” Barbosa said. “She was always positive.”

Richard still frequents the barber shop. These days it’s less often, and Margie’s absence looms large. But it is still home.

“This is still Richard’s spot,” Barbosa said. “He comes here every day. I don’t know where else he feels more comfortable than here.”

— Noozhawk South County editor Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.