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Dreamer

December 18, 2008 12:36 am

Community cannot long feed on itself, it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond: their unknown and undiscovered sisters and brothers.

--Howard Thurman

SO MANY have come "from be- yond," enriching the Fredericks- burg region with their wisdom, their talent, their art, their industry. One of these was Juan Chaves, who passed into Eternity on Saturday. His footprints, however, will remain.

Mr. Chaves spent the first 15 years of his life in his native Cuba, emigrating to Virginia with his parents in 1960. He studied architecture at the University of Virginia, met his future wife there, and settled in Fredericksburg, where he became a prolific architect, preservation advocate, and community leader.

Where some saw a broken-down old building, Mr. Chaves saw potential. He turned former Mayor Bill Beck's down-at-the-heels industrial pump house into a beautiful riverfront retreat. He worked on homes in southern Stafford and old buildings along Caroline Street--and, revealing his versatility, he even designed a nail salon at Spotsylvania Towne Centre. Drawn on scraps of paper or on walls, the designs in his head became shapes and structures that eventually would enrich others' lives--and our community.

Although he was born in the Caribbean, Mr. Chaves embraced Virginia's history with a passion as chairman of the Historic Port of Falmouth Association. He never forgot his own roots: He served as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Hispanics. And although he had an eye for the past, he was also focused on the future: He wrote letters to the editor advocating the use of "green" technology in homes.

Our community is all the richer for those like Mr. Chaves who come, stay, and invest, leaving the place better than they found it. Survived by his wife, Marcia, two children, grandchildren, and other close relatives, Mr. Chaves lived life to the fullest, and died at age 63.