Friends and co-workers said Jimenez was aware of the dangers of the job, and always took precautions. They said a partner he worked with at a previous job was electrocuted while trying to move a palm branch that had fallen on a power line.
They also said that other Inglewood tree trimmers nearly severed their fingers as they were sharpening the wood chipper's blades or working with a chain saw, and that Jimenez had fallen off trees and suffered cuts and other injuries on the job.
Jimenez's family and friends said he was a well-liked, hard-working man who took pride in his job and loved his family.
He worked long hours, leaving home about 4 a.m. every morning, often returning about 8 at night. On weekends, he trimmed trees at private homes from Inglewood to Beverly Hills to provide for his son and three daughters.
He loved trees and compared himself to a hair stylist, saying he made trees look beautiful like coiffeurs did for people, said Juan Mata, a close friend and an Inglewood parks supervisor.
It angered Jimenez when he saw trees that had been scarred or damaged, friends said.
"He saw trees as human," said Ramon Mata, Juan's brother, who worked with Jimenez in Inglewood. "If he saw someone hitting a tree with a piece of metal, he would say, 'Don't hit the tree, the skin peels off and you see water coming down. The tree cries too.' "
His 19-year-old son, Rafael Jimenez Jr., said his father arrived in the U.S. as a 17-year-old and worked his way up from a groundskeeper picking up trash to a senior tree trimmer supervising crews on the job.
He moved his family from a small apartment to a home in Bellflower, then to a nicer home in Perris.
He wore the same clothes for years, but bought new clothes for his children every month, his son recalled.
"He was a happy guy when he went to work," his son said.
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victoria.kim@latimes.com
