Jesse Mercado retired, but never tired of the majesty of the mountain.After 33 years of working as a maintenance person for the National Park Service on Haleakala, Jesse Mercado has hung up his saddle and said goodbye to the work he loved so much.
Loved by all who know him, several hundred well-wishers crowded the Kula Community Center recently to say thanks and goodbye. Among them was former Park Superintendent Don Reeser, who said, “Jesse was a dedicated employee who loved the park. He was one of the great employees—good with horses and mules, solid. A guy who was always there to get the job done.”
There’s only one person who has worked at the park longer than Jesse—Audrey Cordeiro. “I’m one of the few employees who’s been at the park even before he started, so I’ve seen a lot of employees come and go,” said Cordiero. “The thing about Jesse is, you never knew if he was having a bad day. He’d always have this smile on his face and stopped whatever he was doing to greet you.
“He never complained,” said Cordiero. “Jesse was quiet and reserved, very humble and likeable by all, and a true family man. His work ethics and influence among those he worked with were truly commendable. He will be missed.”
Peter Kafka, who was Jesse’s supervisor, said that they were friends before and after he became his boss. “We’re still friends,” he said. “He’s consistent, dependable and nothing’s beneath him. I always knew I could call on him.”
Mercado, a Southern California native, came to Maui in 1970 at the behest of his childhood friend, Bill Palmer of Bounty Music in Kahului. He arrived two days before the legendary “Rainbow Bridge” concert by Jimi Hendrix in the pasture above Seabury Hall. Jesse and his wife, Debbie, fell in love with Maui. “We knew it was the best place in the world,” he said.
Friends told him they were hiring at the park and thought he would fit in. And did he ever. For 18 years, Jesse worked as a seasonal employee. This meant starting work in the spring after winter rains, and getting laid off around Thanksgiving.
“We had no benefits,” said Mercado. “We were very fortunate we were always healthy.”
He would seek side jobs to keep himself busy and solvent, but despite his stellar work record, he always had to reapply each year for his job. But finally, he was able to get a full-time, permanent position.
Asked about his greatest achievement, he said modestly that he is most gratified to have had a hand in building the fence around the park’s perimeter. The fence served to stabilize the goat and pig populations that were ravaging the flora and fauna and threatening the nene.
Once the fence was built, “I was happy to be young and strong enough to learn how to hunt pigs and goats. This saved all the fauna. I’m thankful to the Lord.”
Mercado, who estimated he has ridden into the crater more than 400 times, admitted, “My wife had a horse, but I wasn’t much of a cowboy. I had to learn.”
And learn he did. In fact, in order for there to be more horses for visitors to use, Jesse brought his own horses to work, and even learned to shoe them.
Besides the fence project, Mercado is responsible for the sign of Maui lassoing the sun, in addition to the rock wall around the visitor center and the biosphere sign that was outside of headquarters, among many other projects.
He never tires of the majesty of the mountain and the power of the crater. “You get the feeling that somebody’s following you or looking at you,” said Mercado. “It’s a very high energy level. The feeling elevates you. You get that feeling when you get out and you carry it with you. It’s the heart of the island.”
His most memorable event on the mountain is the day he was driving to work in the early ’70s. He said he wasn’t paying close attention but he noticed the atmosphere was very clear. Then, as he looked out over the vastness of the Pacific, he realized he was looking at O‘ahu, and then he said with amazement, “I could actually see the curvature of the Earth.”
He recalls going to the park library and reading in a book written in 1930 that claimed from the summit of Haleakala it was possible to see 300,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean. He doesn’t doubt it.
He has fond memories of the time he finally convinced Willie Nelson to ride into the crater with him. “He was a hell of a good cowboy,” said Mercado. “He knows how to ride. I felt so privileged to take such an icon. He is the most giving man I’ve ever seen.”
Asked how he’s going to be spending his retirement, Mercado said, “Relax through the holidays. I want to get back in the ocean. I want to do something completely different from the mountain. I want to spend more time with my wonderful wife of 38 years.”
His wife Debbie operates one of Maui’s sweetest businesses, the Maui Chocolate Fountain. His son Matthew is a lifeguard and his daughter Sierra teaches at Kalama Intermediate School. They also have another son, Jesse Jr.
A deeply religious man, Mercado is a member of St. Joseph’s in Makawao. “My church asks you to live a good life,” said Mercado. “All they ask for is one hour a week. My Sundays are church and music.
“I am so happy and so blessed that I even had a job up there. Everything I gave I got back two-fold.”