Dia de los Muertos celebration San Jose: Homeless man builds ofrenda for service dog [Video]

Caltrans plans to tear down a Día De Los Muertos altar built by an unhoused man and his son in San Jose, and the family is asking for the community’s help. 

Miguel Maruyama and his son Alejandro Maruyama of San Jose have been homeless for more than 40 days. They say their service dog ‘Nacho’ died after they became homeless earlier this summer. Now Alejandro must manage his epilepsy without the support of his beloved service dog. 

The pair built their annual ofrenda to celebrate Día De Los Muertos, and honor Nacho, in an unusual place this year: on a lot on the corner of Virginia and Seventh streets. 

“I became homeless and then my service dog got killed, so I have nowhere else to build the altar and I decided to build it here since it was an empty place,” Miguel Maruyama told KTVU.