“Vuela y se libre señor.”

We mourn the loss of Manuel (‘Manny’) Peña who died Oct. 12, 2024, at the age of 60, after 10 years with stage 4 prostate cancer.

His resilience and enthusiasm for life continue to inspire us. He is remembered for his genuine, open nature and his sincerity. With Manny, what you saw was exactly what you got. He had an innate ability to engage with nearly everyone he met, and while he succeeded at diverse endeavors, he believed that a life well-lived was about experiences and relationships rather than achievements.

A man of many talents and a restless mind, Manny developed numerous interests and hobbies over the years, becoming proficient in countless skills. He had an insatiable curiosity and never stopped learning, such that he seemingly knew at least a little bit about everything. Manny possessed not only an inquiring mind, but a creative spirit and the heart and hands of a true craftsman. He was an avowed do-it-yourselfer who could build or repair almost anything. Had he lived to be 100, there wouldn’t have been enough time for all he envisioned and everything he wanted to do.

Manny grew up in the town of Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas in Guanajuato, Mexico, the son of a butcher and a homemaker. By all accounts he was an adventurous and sometimes mischievous youth, whose energy was a bit of a challenge for his parents and the nuns at school. He worked hard from the age of 10, raising and slaughtering goats and other farm animals for the family business. While learning butchering and knife-sharpening from his father he developed his lifelong appreciation for a well-made blade – a craft he developed later in life at New England School of Metalwork here in Maine.

From his mother he inherited creativity and developed a love of plants. She also taught him to cook, clean, shop for the best quality on a budget, take care of your possessions and fix things that break rather than throwing them out. Later, many of those skills would serve him well in the restaurant business.

As a hands-on guy, textbooks and classroom lectures were not for Manny. He persevered through a year of college in agricultural engineering, but then left formal education for an apprenticeship with a carpenter and frame-maker, and some work in the packaged food industry.

Good jobs were hard to find. As a young man Manny left Mexico with his cousin in 1988 for the promise of a better life in the U.S., much to the disappointment of his father who lamented “Such is poor Mexico’s undeserved fate – so far from God and so close to the United States.” His father had tried to shield Manny from the temptations of American culture and “el norte” (the north) – except for “Mission: Impossible,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Hawaii Five-O,” which even his dad couldn’t resist.

After a few years of roofing and landscaping in Texas, Manny relocated to North Carolina and pursued a career in the food service industry, quickly working his way to restaurant management and then running his own food truck.

Manny taught himself English by watching a lot of nature programs which have clear, slow, precise narration. He persuaded others to do the same. As one old friend said “You can’t imagine how many crocodile shows Manny made me watch. But it worked – I learned English. Plus, I learned a lot about crocodiles!”

Manny not only encouraged his compatriots to speak English, but to actively take part in the greater community and to move forward, as opposed to just getting by. He continued that coaching until the day he died.

In 2007, he moved to Portland, Maine, to be with his future wife who he’d met in North Carolina, as a customer who frequented his food truck. Together they renovated a historic home on Portland’s Munjoy Hill and he managed rental properties. In 2011, Manny opened Taco Trio Mexican restaurant in the Knightville neighborhood of South Portland, which he considered an underserved area at the time. While renovating the space, people occasionally left notes on the door expressing their gratitude for him choosing SoPo, and for “not having to cross the bridge to eat out.” He saved those notes forever, as a reminder of the value of being part of a community. Manny launched a second Taco Trio in Portland’s Riverside area – another place that he felt could really use a neighborhood restaurant. However, he closed it after being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in 2014 and pursuing clinical trials in Manhattan. Cancer thwarted all his subsequent attempts to open additional restaurants in other communities, but ultimately he decided he really liked the single-store, “Mom & Pop” format.

As an employer, Manny personified the assertion that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. He was demanding, but never expected more from his team than he did from himself. He was known to speak with brutal honesty, opting to tell it like it is regardless of what you wanted to hear. But his bark was worse than his bite, and he was committed to helping his employees improve their lives – assisting some with education, others with home ownership, and several with other lines of work. Manny inspired several cooks that he’d trained to open their own restaurants, leading to several successful local businesses.

In 2016, after 28 years in the U.S., Manny proudly achieved permanent residency status.

Manny thrived in creative environments and was in his element in a workshop, garden or kitchen. His hobbies and interests included knife-making, blacksmithing, landscaping with native plants, growing fruit trees, bonsaiing any type of shrub or tree, calligraphy, jewelry-making, ship models, leather work, cooking, photography, and “collecting.”

Some who knew Manny well described him as having “a lot of stuff,” though he saw value in each of these possessions. He collected (or accumulated) a wide variety of items, both practical and fanciful, and had a particular affinity for things that were uniquely designed. He gathered tools, workbenches, art supplies, books, knives, fine watches, distinctive pens, bound journals, Mexican pottery, boots and shoes, jackets and gloves, rings, clever boxes and containers, indoor and outdoor plants, old bottles, interesting stones, driftwood, feathers, other intriguing found items – not to mention kindred spirits, a few stray animals, and the occasional lost soul. He acknowledged his tendency to accumulate by joking that instead of a memorial service we should have a yard sale. (Details to follow – after we sort the basement, attic, garage, garden shed, workshop, studio and storage room at the restaurant!).

In his down-time, Manny enjoyed watching PBS mysteries, “Antiques Road Show,” nature programs, “Shark Tank,” “The Dog Whisperer,” and old soccer matches – ideally while sipping agave spirits or savoring fruit. Manny loved all kinds of fruit, especially when home-grown. Other favorite things include ethnic foods, carnivorous plants, antique stores, little-known facts, puns and double entendres, astronomic events, dark chocolate, cumbia and salsa music as well as Santana, Pink Floyd, the Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Putumayo collections. He was happiest in unsettled weather and had difficulty staying inside on windy, rainy days. The day he died was his favorite type of day, so we opened all the windows for him.

Manny is preceded in death by: his parents, Alfredo Peña Alvarez and Isabel Cerrito Sillero; his dear friend, Roberto Estrada; and four beloved cats.

He is survived by: his wife, Karen Rasmussen of South Portland, Maine; as well as his family members in Mexico: three sisters, Elvira Peña Cerrito, Raquel Peña Cerrito, Beatriz Peña Cerrito, and his cousin, Elias Cerrito Lucatero who was like a brother; three nephews, Daniel Hernandez Peña, Omar Hernandez Peña, David Barroso Peña; and a niece, Rafaela Hernandez Peña. He also leaves behind his 18-year old cat, Squeaker, who will miss Manny walking him around the block every evening.

Manny did not like attention and requested no funeral nor other formal memorial services. However, he did wish to be remembered annually on el Dia de Muertos (the Day of the Dead, Nov. 2) beginning next year, after his spirit has completed its long journey to the other side.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Manny’s caregivers at New England Cancer Specialists, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Hospice of Southern Maine.”

For those wishing to make a donation in Manny’s honor, please consider these nonprofits representing his interests: New England School of Metalwork, Auburn, Maine, newenglandschoolofmetalwork.com/node/5; HART (Homeless Animal Rescue Team), Cumberland, Maine, hartofme.org/donate; Wild Seed Project, Cape Elizabeth and North Yarmouth, Maine,wildseedproject.squarespace.com/donate/#donate; The Center for Wildlife, Cape Neddick, Maine, thecenterforwildlife.org/donate; Immigrant Welcome Center, Portland, Maine, welcomeimmigrant.org/donate; and your local food pantry