BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- A beloved member of the community is gone. And with him, a sliver of Bakersfield's heart. "The minute I start to dwell on, the huge hole… it's not even a hole, it's almost like a tear that he leaves in your life," Enriquez's wife, Carola Rupert said. All Seated in a Barn lending a ‘helping hoof’ amid Los Angeles wildfires John Enriquez, an East High and Bakersfield College graduate, was the oldest child of seven. After B.C., he worked with his family's construction business, Enriquez Construction, until 1990. But his true calling, was serving the community. He eventually became a public works supervisor in Santa Clarita, and in 2001, helped found "Keep Bakersfield Beautiful." He also was a significant contributor to the revitalization of the Fox Theater, and served as the Fox Theater Foundation's board president from 2015 to 2016. "He just had such a love for Bakersfield that he wanted Bakersfield to look as beautiful as it could. And when he saw litter it really bothered him," says Enriquez's son John Patrick Enriquez. Enriquez's beautification work spanned pretty much the rest of his life. Even well after he retired. Cleaning graffiti, planting flowers, picking up trash. He did it all. Screenshot Lauren Enriquez, John's daughter, said, "He really wanted this community to be beautified, and so he was always thinking of ways he could go about doing that." Another one of passions outside volunteer work, was sports. He especially loved Bakersfield sports. Never miss a story: Make KGET.com your homepage "Every sport in Bakersfield, it was Bakersfield Blaze, Cal State Bakersfield everything, you name it," John Patrick said. He also adored baseball, but, here's a curveball for you; Mr. Bakersfield rooted for the Tampa bay Rays. He was rarely seen without his Rays hat. "If he wasn't wearing the Rays hat, you'd be like, 'something looks wrong,'" Lauren explained. If you didn't know about his volunteer work, no one would blame you. He was never one to chase the limelight. "Nothing was about himself, it was about 'we.' And it was about the team and it was about 'how do we improve the city?' It was never about him at all," Fox Theater board member, Gilbert LaRoque said. He didn't need to look for it. The limelight found him. After years of being a friend to the city, Bakersfield honored him as one of her best friends some months ago. "Well it makes me feel very proud… I can't thank Mayor Goh enough for that beautiful award that she gave me this morning. The key to the city, that means a lot, that's big," John Enriquez said when he received the honor. No award will ever be enough to pay back the good work he's done for her, but Bakersfield can at the very least spare two last words to John Enriquez; thank you.