Memorial

Crecencio "Chencho" Portillo

1920 – 1998 A memorial honoring warmth, ritual, and family memory.

A life remembered

Chencho’s story


Humble farmer from a small ranchito called Santa Rosa in the sierras of Sinaloa, Mexico.

Born April 19, 1920 Passed away April 25, 1998

Told by the family

Memories of Chencho


Lost Guarache

One day I lost my guarache crossing the rio walking back from El Alamo. When we got home he quickly noticed and asked, "Que le paso a tu gurache?". "Se lo llevo el rio". He got his flashlight and left right as the sun was setting. Later that night he came home, with my guarache in his hand. He found my guarache in the dead of night in the rio.

Across the years

Chencho’s life journey


The chapters between these dates are still being gathered by the family.

April 19, 1920

Crecencio "Chencho" Portillo was born

April 25, 1998

Crecencio "Chencho" Portillo passed away

Kept close

Photographs & keepsakes


Badiraguato
Altar
Landscape from the old road

Woven together

Chencho’s family


People remembered alongside Chencho. Each relationship is shown as that person’s connection to Chencho.

Open the full family tree

If you'd like to linger

The AR memorial

View selected photographs and moments from this memorial in augmented reality, placed in the room around you through your phone’s camera. It opens in the browser — no app needed.

View the AR memorial

Works best on a phone. Your browser will ask for camera permission only after you choose to begin. If your device doesn’t support AR, everything lives here on this page.

Words and gestures left here

A gathering of light

Messages and gestures left by people who remember Chencho. The family reads each one before it appears here.

4 remembrances

This Guestbook holds 4 remembrances — quiet gestures and written messages left by people who remember Chencho. Each one is listed below.

  • Miss you great grandpa.

  • He loved cacaguates.

  • He had a way of making ordinary evenings feel ceremonial. Thank you for preserving that feeling here.

  • I always left feeling calmer than when I arrived. This page captures that softness beautifully.

Leave a message or gesture

Deja un mensaje o un gesto de recuerdo.

Carrying a longer story about Crecencio "Chencho" Portillo? Share it with the family →

A short message or gesture belongs here in the Guestbook. A longer memory — a story, a photograph, a saying — can be preserved in the memorial itself. The family reviews everything first. ¿Tienes un recuerdo más largo? Compártelo con la familia.

If you are visiting this page for the first time, imagine being handed a chair and a warm drink. That is the tone this memorial wants to keep alive: generous, steady, and never in a hurry.

— A Letter for Future Visitors

Do you carry a story about Chencho?

A short memory is enough — a phrase, a road, an ordinary evening. What feels small to you may be the detail a grandchild treasures most.

Share a memory

Presented by Altar · Preserving memories with care.

Altar helps families preserve the stories, photographs, and small details that make a life their own. Begin a memorial