Miguel Ángel Balibrera was born December 11th, 1935, in San Salvador. He moved with his parents and brother to San Francisco in 1943, where they settled into the Inner Richmond district and he attended the Star of the Sea grammar school. He learned English quickly, skipped grades and started high school early at St. Ignatius. At St. Ignatius, and later at the University of San Francisco, he was known for both his brilliant intellect and his fancy footwork on the soccer field. 

San Francisco remained Miguel’s true home for the rest of his life, and over the decades he resided in the Richmond, Westlake, the Haight, North Beach, the Mission, and Russian Hill. He acted in Spanish-language plays with a Mission District theater troupe, and wrote and shared poetry with the Latino community from his Capp Street apartment. He could be found in the North Beach fog wearing a Basque beret and a leather jacket, playing speed chess and drinking a demitasse of espresso at Vesuvio’s, or walking his kids up the hill to Swenson’s for an ice cream in the 1980s and 90s. Miguel studied classical guitar with his characteristic passion and dedication. He devoted himself to the instrument, playing each day with joy and humility, never declaring himself the master of any piece. In 1980 Miguel met another guitarist, Jean, the woman who would become his wife, and he invited her to play a duet with him. They played all six pieces from J.S. Bach’s Anna Magdalena Notebook together. Over the next several decades they played many more pieces together beautifully. Throughout his long and artful life, he was immensely proud of his children, worked to support them, and honed his attention to their spirits and their educations, and to honoring their interests, as diverse as tropical fish, photography, and mathematics, with the praise, “dynamite!” 

In the early hours of August 30th, 2024, Miguel passed on to the next dynamite realm. He was at home, on the street where he lived for over 45 years, surrounded by his wife and his children and grandchildren. Jean, forever his partner in life and guitar, serenaded him on the guitar with Hector Ponce’s “Sarabande in D.” Miguel was preceded in death by his parents Carlos and Clara Balibrera, his brother Mario, and a grandson, Michael Anthony Balibrera. He leaves behind his beloved wife Jean Balibrera, six children–Michael Balibrera, René Alberto Balibrera (Maribel), Angel Balibrera, Gina Balibrera (Charles), Mario Balibrera (Tabby), and Jules Balibrera (Em) – many grandchildren–Justin Balibrera, Robert Balibrera, Ryan Balibrera, Ricky Balibrera, Donaven Bayangos, Brandon Bayangos, Brooke Bayangos, Mila Burnside, and Oliver Balibrera Amyx– nephew Alaric Balibrera and niece Belle Balibrera, and so many dear friends, all of whom remember his wisdom, his creativity, his refined dignity, his intelligence, and his love, with so much tenderness.