Salvador Ceja Gonzalez, better known as Gerardo Ceja, part owner of Radio La M in Oxnard, received several certificates of recognition from West Coast Cultura Arts, elected officials and the Mexican Consulate for his 30 years anniversary on Wednesday, August 12 at the Marez Event Center in downtown Oxnard, just one block away from the radio station headquarters.
Gerardo was very emotional and thanked the presenters as well as his family and friends.
Gerardo was born in Michoacán, Mexico, on November 8, 1962. His parents, José and María Guadalupe Ceja, were very humble and strict. His siblings are Carmen, Jesús, Francisco, Esperanza, Rosalina, and Josefina (who passed away in 2024), among three others who died at a very young age.
The place where he grew up, El Fresno, Michoacán, had neither electricity nor running water. He and his family had to go down to fetch water, and he had to earn a living from a very young age. Starting at age 5, he had to work, milking cows, bring the milk home, and every Sunday, he would wake up early to go down to town with his family to buy food necessities.
His father, José Ceja Barrajas, was part of the Bracero Program, through which he worked in the United States harvesting strawberries. Because of this, Salvador and his family had the opportunity to obtain their green cards in the United States. Salvador and his family received their green cards on March 21, 1972, in San Ysidro. They crossed by bus with their mother and siblings, but returned to Mexico because they were still not old enough to work.
Today La M es a very prominent radio station in Ventura County and beyond.