Chava Burgueño

Chava Burgueño, 73, of Hamden, CT died at home with his family on Saturday, March 15th, 2025 after a brief illness. Born February 22, 1952 in Tijuana, Mexico as Francisco Salvador Burgueño Herrera, he immigrated to Los Angeles at the age of seven and legally changed his name to Chava during his naturalization in 1986. Chava, the Mexican nickname for Salvador, was not only what he was called by his family, but a simpler name for casting agents as he navigated Los Angeles as a young actor.

Chava was raised by his mother, and bookended by two sisters, as well as an older half-sister and two half-brothers. Being surrounded by female influence, including the loving care of Abuelita Panchita, greatly developed his emotional intelligence and nurturing side, a contrast from the traditional male in Mexican culture. In middle school, he was cast in his first theatre production, The Sound of Music, an experience that changed his life. In 1972 he enrolled at Southwestern Community College in San Diego, quickly leaving the study of architecture behind to join the theatre department. Connections made at Southwestern soon led him to the doors of the Old Globe Theater, where he won the Craig Noel Classical Audition Festival and participated in the Old Globe Theater Educational Tour, a traveling band of actors who brought Shakespeare to local students via flatbed truck.

While working with Old Globe, Chava was introduced to his wife of 31 years, Katherine (née Gartside) when he auditioned for a Mexican Christmas Pastorela of which Katherine was the stage manager. The two married a year later, and welcomed two daughters, Celina and Helena, in the years that followed.

The core of Chava's family life was spent in Hamden, where the Burgueños moved after Katherine accepted a job at the Yale School of Drama. He partnered with Katherine as the at-home-dad, proudly bearing the role of "homemaker": responsible for school pick-ups, laundry, and most important to him, cooking for everyone. As their daughters grew older, Chava also worked part-time first at Atticus Bookstore & Cafe in New Haven, and later as a pre-school teacher at Mishkan Israel Nursery School in Hamden and an after school teacher at the Foote School in New Haven. He went on to pursue his Associates degree in Early Childhood Education at Gateway Community College in his 50's, and his excellence in teaching was reflected in the many families he touched over 18 years.

Chava will be remembered most for how he cherished his home and family. He spent the final days of his life in contented retirement, filling his days with the activities he loved: turning the family yard into a maze of gardens; grocery shopping around Hamden for the best deals; filling the walls of his home with his latest art projects; endless hours watching live theatre; group fitness classes at the YMCA; sunny days at the beach; classic television programs and the lead up to Oscars season; cooking and singing in his yellow kitchen, and making people laugh. But, most important to Chava were "his girls"; traveling with Katherine to visit their two daughters wherever they landed and reveling in their adult lives. His diagnosis in November 2024 slowed him and took him soon, but in his last four months, Chava was only peaceful in his ever constant self-reflection: "I had a harmoniously vibrant life."

Chava is survived by his wife, Katherine Burgueño, and two daughters, Celina Burgueño and Helena Burgueño (Jacob Rosenkalt), as well as loving family and friends around the globe. The family would like to thank the teams at Smilow Cancer Hospital for their exceptional care during this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Chava's honor to Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven or giving blood and platelets at your local Red Cross. A memorial service will be held in Hamden later this summer. The Washington Memorial Funeral Home, 4 Washington Ave., North Haven has been entrusted with arrangements. washingtonmemorialfh.com 

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