Life is a gamble. You sit at the table and play the cards you're dealt, hoping to get ahead and succeed. You keep your hand to yourself, and play to put yourself in the best position possible. One man played the game of life with a completely different strategy than everybody else, and that man was Louis M. Barrios. While we all sat at life's proverbial card table playing to win, Louis played right beside us, however, Louis was the only man unselfishly playing his hand to make sure that everybody at the table won. A real-life patron saint of the "go for a cruise down Whittier Boulevard" , the man known as Barr from Lifestyle Car Club was a big man with an even bigger heart. A truly unique individual and man of the Church, Louis was a father, uncle, brother, friend, confidant, counselor, and advisor to practically everyone who came in contact with him. The respect he had for people was unparalleled, but even more astonishing was the manner in which people respected him. Sons of Soul, Orpheus, Latin Lords, Old Memories, Groupe, I mean everyone on Whittier Boulevard knew who he was, and they all looked up to him. Barr knew everyone too, and on a first-name basis, as he refused to call anyone by their nickname, ask Ruben "Buggs" Ochoa.
Louis Barrios grew up in the East Los Angeles area during the late '60s and early '70s attending Our Lady of Soledad Elementary, and Cantwell High School in Montebello, before finishing his college aspirations at ELAC Junior College. Back in those days, lowriders came out of every driveway from every residential street in East LA. This was in the middle of the early revolutionary Lowrider culture, where backyard parties and live bands performed songs from groups like Chicago, and El Chicano, and you could catch the Midnighters live on the weekends at the International Club, Kennedy Hall, or the Palladium in Hollywood. Lowrider Camaros, '69 Caprices, Ford Galaxies, and Nomads were the more popular rides at the time. High school parking lots were full of friends and students who owned these types of boulevard favorites, and to associate or belong, you had to have one. Barr was pretty big in size, and when he would drive his then 4-door '58 with his arm hanging out, you really didn't want to check out his car because you were afraid he might think you were staring at him. He joined a very popular car club called the Bachelors LTD in the early 70's, and stayed on as a member for a few years before joining the newly formed Lifestyle car club in 1976, where he would reside until the end of his 16 years of service towards the club. Barr fit in well with Lifestyle, and became the club's treasurer in just a few weeks, a testament to how quickly he had earned the trust of the other members. In the early years of the club's existence Barr also worked at a church named "El Santuarrio de Juadalupe" on a hill on Third Street. He drove his signature big blue '76 Caprice "Glass House" and eventually became the club's Vice President and go-to guy for advice regarding any problems or conflicts the club members may have been facing at the time. Always so genuine and sincere, Louie made it known that you could count on him to help at anytime. There would be a time Big Lou would eventually become the President of Lifestyle, and hold a group together through rough times along with Mike Lopez, Chuy, and 12 other diehards until reinforcements or older club members would rejoin to help strengthen the club all over again.
It was as a junior in high school in 1976 that I first met Louie Barrios, and I was immediately taken by how friendly and easy going he was. We became the best of friends and for 17 years, I was able to see how well liked and respected he was among his peers and the community as a whole. It seemed he always had a circle of club members around him seeking advice, and no matter what the problem was, he would always steer them in the right direction. Full of life, Big Lou was always cracking jokes and playing pranks on fellow members, including his favorite targets Joe and Sorel. He and his family always had an open door for everybody, so his home became our hang out and our sanctuary. Louis spent all of his days completely obsessed with his passion of lowriding, his philosophy was that you could "never be too low," and that you should "always be ready" for the boulevard. He had many cars, but the one we all identified him with was that meticulously kept 1976 Caprice. We went everywhere in that car, it must have had 500,000 miles on it, and his efforts to keep it spotless and cruise-ready were legendary.