La Voz editor Javier Arce touched my heart in more ways than I can count — something I’ve rarely said about an employee or coworker.

There wasn’t a moment or a place or something he specifically did that encapsulated my impression of him.

I met him years ago when I took over La Voz, The Arizona Republic’s Spanish-language publication. We worked together until I moved full-time into writing opinions for The Arizona Republic.

Javier knew the community and the issues they cared about. He knew how to get people talking and how to translate that into a story, a video or a social media post.

All that was necessary and part of his work as a reporter, digital producer and, later, editor. I quickly realized, though, that he was something else, too — somebody who........

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