134th Death Anniversary of Dr. José Eleuterio González
His memory will not be lost and his name will be repeated from generation to generation
At eleven o'clock at night on April 4, 1888, at the age of 75, Dr. José Eleuterio González Mendoza died (due to "liver disease", according to his death certificate). The entire city mourned his loss and dressed in mourning, all social and economic activities were paralyzed.
The School of Medicine took care of the body and embalmed it, between days 5 and 6. The present body mass was held on day 7, in the chapel of the Hospital, on whose cover the students of Medicine placed a canvas, changing the title of Civil Hospital to "Gonzalitos Hospital". Later his remains were taken to the Government Palace, where he was paid official funeral honors.
On April 8, the meritorious body was transferred to the "Gonzalitos Hospital" to bury him. At four o'clock in the afternoon he left the procession, headed by state and municipal authorities. Upon arriving at the Hospital, the coffin was placed on the porch, on a simple catafalque. In the background were crepes and legends that accounted for the values of the wise doctor. On the right side of his remains, a tribune for the funeral and funeral prayers was improvised. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the coffin was taken to the interior chapel of the hospital, where the next day it was buried on the north wall.
A tombstone carved by F. Ferri was placed on his grave with the inscription:
“His memory will not perish and his name will be repeated from generation to generation. Ecclesiastical Chap. XXXIX, V.10. Here lie the mortal remains of the Benemérito de Nuevo León. Dr. José Eleuterio González who knew how to live and die as a good son of God. DEP Monterrey, April 4, 1888. The Monterrey School of Medicine in memory of its founder.”
In his will he left a legacy, with which the upper floor of the old Hospital and the annex building of the School of Medicine, inaugurated in 1892, were built.
Dr. González persists in memory not only for his scientific, educational and humanistic work, but also for his philanthropy that led him to be loved and recognized by thousands of patients who received his care in an efficient and selfless manner, they were those who from the youth of the wise doctor immortalized him with the nickname "Gonzalitos".
Museum Room "Dr. Ángel Óscar Ulloa Gregori"