Local business starts fundraiser for family of construction worker who died from COVID-19 complications

David Gonzalez Sacalxot never took a sick day in the six years he worked at Princeton Design Guild. He was a hard worker who took pride in everything he did and was respected by his co-workers.

“He was a quiet person. He wasn’t an in-the-front-of-the-crowd kind of guy,” said Princeton Design Guild owner Kevin Wilkes. ” He was the kind of employee everyone needs more of — he was loyal and dedicated. He was also very devoted to his wife and kids.”

Gonzalez Sacalxot, who lived in Hopewell Borough, was the foreman for the Princeton Design Guild labor crew. He also did a lot of the demolition work for the company, most recently at the former post office building on Palmer Square in preparation for its transformation into a brewery and restaurant.

The first Friday in August, Gonzalez Sacalxot went home sick because he wasn’t feeling well. “It was so unlike him,” Wilkes said.

Gonzalez Sacalxot had contracted COVID-19. He was hospitalized at the Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was placed on a ventilator because he couldn’t breathe. He died on Saturday, Sept. 4, leaving behind his wife, Dina Jerez Giron, who works in the bakery at the Brick Farm Market; his sons, Jose David and Daniel; and daughters, Susanna, Cindy, and Tania. His youngest child is 10 years old.

Wilkes said the death of Gonzalez Sacalxot has left the family not only emotionally devastated, but also struggling to pay for funeral costs. Wilkes and his colleagues at Princeton Design Guild have organized a fundraiser via GoFundMe to help the family with expenses. All proceeds will go to the family, and any money remaining after the funeral expenses are paid for will be used for educational expenses for Gonzalez Sacalxot’s school-age children.

The funeral service for Gonzalez Sacalxot will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Wilson Apple Funeral Home in Pennington, followed by burial at the Highland Cemetery in Hopewell Borough.

Donations to the fund can be made online via the GoFundMe page “In memory of our colleague David Gonzalez Sacalxot”.