Mighty Hispanic Leaders

Simona Medrano arrived early to Georgetown—she’s the great-grandmother of Georgetown’s first female Hispanic city council member, Mary Calixtro.

Mary Calixtro, Simona’s great-granddaughter

If you’ve lived in Georgetown a little while or a longer while, you may think of the San José neighborhood southeast of downtown as being THE historically Hispanic neighborhood. And it has had that distinction for a long time!

But other neighborhoods are part of Georgetown’s Hispanic history and present, including the Grasshopper and Ridge neighborhoods west and south of downtown. Read more about them below.

Many Hispanic people also settled and stayed in the North Town area north of San Gabriel Park, such as the family of Maggie Mendez Lopez, owner of Maggie’s Hair Design.

Wherever Hispanic Georgetowners lived, they’ve made Georgetown better. Over the years and continuing today, they’ve been a vital part of education, law enforcement, healthcare, business, civic service, and overall community improvement. Keep reading to learn more.

This gathering at San José Park has family ties (Miranda, Dela Cruz, and more) going back nearly a century.

San José began in the 1930s with Hispanic families buying farmland to build houses. Soon they built a church and businesses such as grocery stores. Ramon Hernandez bought land in San Jose in 1947, and he started a grocery at 2103 San José Street, according to Recuerdos Mexicanos, a history of Hispanic Georgetown created by the Los Unidos Club in conjunction with the City of Georgetown. Read all the histories at this Williamson County history site.

The Los Unidos Club formed in 1979 to preserve Hispanic history and do service projects: organize the San José Fiesta that was celebrated for many years; plant trees; build restrooms at San José Park; raise money for scholarships; and more.

These 1988 queens of the San José Fiesta raised record $$ for scholarships!

San José Street is the heart and soul of what became the San Jose barrio. The San José (St. Joseph) shrine at the south end of San José has remained an icon for the neighborhood since 1953.

Growing Businesses and Working Hard

Ramon Hernandez’s pioneer grocery store in San José was taken over by Nat Lopez, according to the history of San Jose outlined by the City of Georgetown as part of their ongoing improvement plans for San José and the TRG (Track, Ridge, and Grasshopper) neighborhoods.

Lopez Grocery is remembered with fondness by community members. Nat would give candy to kids with good report cards, and he’d extend credit to families when they were strapped.

Nat’s up there by his well-loved grocery store.

This ad from the 1970s assumes that many in Georgetown may not know “the way to San José,” as the refrain asked in the song made popular by Dionne Warwick referring to San José, California. The neighborhood and visitors kept the grocery going until the 1990s.

Other Hispanic-owned businesses sprang up in San José and around town, such as Antonio Martinez’s restaurant at 8th and MLK; Brijido Rodriguez’s Café and Dance Platform; Benito Perez’s Chili Stand; Adolfo Barrera’s Adolfo’s Grocery; Eugenio and Henry Zavala’s barber shops; and the Kash and Karry Grocery in San José owned by Josefa and Eustacio Maldanado.

Photo courtesy of Sandra Vasquez Alvarado

Ramirez Grocery, which also offered home-cooked burritos, tacos, tamales, and more, was at 406 W. 6th Street. It was owned by Juan Ramirez, and the faithful locals called it “RamGro.” Southwestern students loved it as a late-night spot to get some food, since it was open 24-7.

When Juan was severely injured and detained on a trip to Mexico, former Georgetown mayor Carl Doering, who was a friend to Juan, helped by collecting rent on another house Juan owned. Carl learned years later that Juan had been brought back to the care of his sister in Round Rock. She was then able to move into the house, with accrued rent money waiting in an account Doering had set up. Read all about it in this article by author Alicea Jones.

Another grocery, C & L Grocery, was located at Railroad and University, named for Carrancro and Lopez. C & L was on the current site of O’Reilly Auto Parts.

Hispanic Georgetownians had limited job opportunities. One major employment center was the turkey slaughterhouse at 8th and Rock, where 80% of the workers were Hispanic. Nearby was a cotton gin and this cotton yard, just south of what’s now the Georgetown Library.

And the Georgetown Oil Mills, which processed cottonseed oil, was a major employer of largely Hispanic and Black men. The huge mill complex was adjacent to the J. W. Gray cotton gin. These days, it’s the site of the Old Mill Village, a 20-home project of Georgetown Habitat for Humanity. Residents help build their houses as part of the ownership process.

Other places employing Hispanics included the Texas Café, Peasley’s Meat Market, and the Ralph Bakery, according to Recuerdos Mexicanos. Over the years, opportunities opened up. For example, Margaret and John Miranda both worked at Braun Dairy.

Josefa and Jaciento Maldanado harvesting beets in Montana

Martha Miranda reaches up to harvest cherries in Wisconsin as a migrant laborer.

Many more Georgetown Hispanics worked for local farms or left to do agricultural work afar, travelling to Montana, Wisconsin, and Colorado and other places.

Check out an excellent look at the Hispanic community in the history series Tuesday Talks. Georgetown librarian Ann Evans shared some of the oral histories that she did as a former curator for the Williamson Museum. Listen to Angie Roblez and Mary Calixtro as they describe how San José residents traveled long distances with their families for all to labor in the fields to earn money—and provide food for America.

Hispanics also worked cotton, as did Black families, and along with some white workers, they were the backbone of Williamson County’s thriving cotton industry. Recuerdos Mexicanos photos show the work, from hand-picking cotton in the heat, filling heavy bags, and loading them.

Large numbers of Mexicans also traveled here to work the cotton harvest. Often, no housing was provided, and the workers and their families camped. This situation came into tragic relief in 1921, when high rains cause the San Gabriel to let loose in a deadly wall of water. Hundreds of Mexican cotton workers were camped near the river; nearly 100 died that night. Many cotton workers had migrated; some were local. Many were never identified; swept away or unknown in this country.

Find this marker about the many cotton workers swept away in the flood at San Gabriel Park.

Over the years, more Hispanic people started more businesses. Adolfo Barrera would go on to have an oil dealership on Railroad Street, as did Ramon Hernandez.

Back then, businesses owned by Hispanic people were with rare exception found only in places well-populated by Hispanics. One breakthrough was DeLuxe Cleaners, owned by Richard and Mary Vasquez. They opened their dry-cleaning and laundry near downtown at 214 W. 8th Street in 1973. They went on to expand their business to Taylor and Round Rock. Here’s their ad in the Sun.

As the same time as the couple owned and ran the dry cleaning stories, Richard also served in the Williamson County Sheriff’s department for 23 years. Mary worked at the Georgetown Hospital.

More businesses sprang up downtown and around town in the latter 1970s. Daniel and Lois Vasquez opened Custom Frames by Daniel on 7th and Main streets. Olivia’s Salons grew to have three Georgetown hair salons, in addition to the Round Rock flagship store that began in 1959. Learn more about Olivia—also a prize-winning watercolor artist!—and other Hispanic women who started hair salons in the Taking Care of Business section focusing on women businesswomen.

Here’s Olivia Castillo, shown in a Sun special focus on businesses that provided bridal preparation services.

Olivia Castillo, owner of hair salons; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Much has changed over the years. Hispanic-owned businesses abound all around Georgetown now. And many are networking to pool skills, resources, and opportunities. Elena Lewis and Carlos Hernandez, co-owners of the Arthur Murray Dance Center of Georgetown, started the Hispanic Business Owners of Georgetown, Texas, affiliated with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. The two were key organizers of the newly revived Fiesta in 2022, a revival of the party that was celebrated for years in San José.

Hispanic Business Owner members; Elena Lewis seated far left and Carlos Hernandez seated far right

Realtor Cilia Montoto created the Georgetown Women’s Networking Group to share expertise among women business owners (Hispanic or anyone). The female networking group is expanding to central Texas.

Our Educators

Working the crops meant that many children weren’t able to attend the full school year. Some dropped out to work for family income. Hispanic children were only allowed to attend the one-room “Mexican School” or “Escuela Mexicana” near 10th and Bridge streets that began in 1923. Go here to find out more about the amazing efforts of Othelia Giron, who headed the Mexican School and worked tirelessly to educate children and help families.

Children of the Mexican School; Othelia is at left of man in suit and tie

Children were allowed to transfer to the white Georgetown Grammar School if ready by 4th grade. In 1947, the Mexican School closed and all Hispanic children attended Georgetown Grammar. Black children weren’t allowed in white schools until 1965.

Annie Purl, Georgetown’s leading white educator, gave assistance to the Mexican and Black school teachers and students. She learned Spanish to aid the transition of the Mexican School children to the white school.

Migrant children educators Patsy Bracamontez on right with Scherry Chapman; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Others helped ameliorate the challenges many Hispanic children faced. In the early 1970s, Lois Vasquez, Scherry Chapman, and Patsy Bracamontez worked with the Georgetown school district to develop preschool services for children of migrant workers. Eventually the program merged into preschool for low income students and continued with Title I state-funded services in all the schools.

Patsy continued to spend her career working for Georgetown schools.

Chip Richarte, namesake of Richarte High School

And many here may not know that one of our high schools is named after a Hispanic Georgetowner who grew up in the Ridge neighborhood. Can you guess which school? Richarte High School, a flexible-learning school located next to Georgetown High (soon to be at an educational complex on Airport Road), is named after Sipriana “Chip” Richarte.

Chip graduated from Georgetown High and from Central Texas College. She was part of the LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) program begun by local doctors Doug Benold, James Shepherd, and Hal Gaddy. The doctors were the first to train and hire women of color for the clinic and hospital, up until then all white-staffed. Here’s Chip and her sister-in-law nurse Jovita Richarte in the LVN class of 1964.

L-R: Dr. Doug Benold, Goldie Munson, Chip Richarte, director of nurses Mariam Kalmbach, Dr. James Shepherd, Katherine Kelley, Martha Tilden, Jovita Richarte, Dr. Hal Gaddy; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Chip became an RN (Registered Nurse) and worked at Shoal Creek Hospital in Austin. Chip returned to Georgetown to work at a family planning clinic in Georgetown and then on to nursing at Georgetown Hospital. She became the school nurse for 11 years at Northside Middle School (which became Raye McCoy Elementary), where she was well-loved and known for finding resources to keep at-risk children in school.

Jovita Richarte, by the way, kept on nursing as well—here she is with other Georgetown nurses who donated money in 1976 toward the fund to build Georgetown Hospital.

L-R: Jovita Richarte, Polly Prude, Vida Bosshard, Madge Lincoln, and Evelyn Shell give nearly $800 to Pat Labenski, volunteer for the hospital capital fund. Photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun.*

Another Hispanic Georgetown High grad made waves in education. Daniel Aleman grew up in Georgetown, but often he and his family were away working the cotton harvest or hard at work in area farms shearing sheep. Nonetheless, he made the most of school, graduating from Georgetown High at the top of his class, excelling at both academics and athletics and shining in band.

Daniel graduated from Southwestern University, taught band, and sold wind instruments throughout Texas. He then moved to Mexico to study Spanish Literature at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, which inspired a lifelong love of Latin American literature. He returned to connect with his Georgetown childhood friend, Orfalinda Vasquez, who was working at the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, and they married.

Daniel became a band director at Pearsall High School south of San Antonio, starting with a mere 75 kids in a lower-income school with a high dropout rate. Before long, he had one-third of the students happily in band, and he expected them all to work hard at school.

They did work hard while having fun in band practices and performances, and the school saw better grades and fewer dropouts. Daniel expanded the number of Mighty Maverick bands, and the bands scooped up loads of state awards.

Over his 25 years, Daniel influenced some 4,000 students. He died in in 2022, and in February of 2023, Daniel was inducted into the Georgetown/Carver Hall of Honor.

Patricia Miranda was a 1997 graduate of Georgetown High who also was inducted into the Georgetown/Carver Hall of Honor in 2015 for her stellar education work. Dr. Patricia Yvonne Miranda-Hartsuff is an associate professor of Public Health at Wayne State University in Detroit. She researches and teaches about inequities in healthcare and access within diverse communities. She founded HEAL Detroit, an organization which helps community groups gain better access to employment and healthcare.

Patricia graduated from Trinity University, and got a Masters in Public Health and a Phd in public health from the University of Michigan. Her postdoctoral work was at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Health Disparities Research.

Another Hispanic educator who spend his last decades in Georgetown is Dr. Gonzalo Garza, who’s honored with the naming of Gonzalo Garza Independence High School in Austin at 1600 Chicon Street. Check out Gonzalo’s fascinating history and other Texas Hispanic changemakers at UT’s Voces Oral History Center.

Young Gonzalo’s family in New Braunfels picked crops and often lived in poverty. He attended a segregated “Mexican School” and at 17, joined the Marines because they promised an education for service. He was sent to the front lines in Japan in 1944—later he would be awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his bravery. He also learned Japanese to be an interpreter.

Gonzalo used the GI Bill to get his GED and college—a benefit he encourages for everyone who joins the military. But two semesters short of a degree at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, he was called up again to serve in the Korean conflict. He was wounded and got frostbite and was awarded several more medals.

Dr. Garza’s portrait at Gonzalo Garza Independence School

After finishing his degree, Gonzalo taught and got a master’s degree in education. He met another teacher, Dolores Scott, and they married and had five children. He became one of the first Hispanic school administrators in Corpus Christi. They moved to Austin for him to get his PhD at UT, and he was a superintendent at other school districts, ending as associate superintendent at Austin ISD.

Gonzalo was deeply involved in his namesake school, and spent hours talking to students, encouraging them to stay in school and aim high. The Garzas moved to Georgetown in 1992, and jumped into community life here with Rotary Club and Neighborhood Longhorns. Gonzalo loved horseshoes, and competed in Senior Olympics. He died at 95 in 2022.

Healthcare Givers

Hispanic women provided critical healthcare at a time when Hispanic and Black people were denied healthcare from whites-only facilities and practitioners.

Anjelita Alejandro Garcia and Mage Ramirez were midwives who brought many, many babies into the world.Anjelita’s granddaughter Margaret Miranda remembers that her grandmother often delivered the babies of poor women for free.

Hispanic and Black nurses couldn’t work in all-white clinics and hospitals—doctors and administrators believed that white patients would protest. But that changed when (see above info with the Richarte sisters) local doctors opened the doors for non-whites to enroll in the Georgetown School for Vocational Nurses. Hispanic women jumped through that door, with grads including Ramona Jasso, Eva Osuna, Julia Osuna, Rebecca Hernandez, Antonia Zavala, Helen Valdez, Rosie Rodriguez, and more.

Proud LVN grads in 1966 are in the front row: L-R front row Helen Valdez, Evelyn Edwards Ross, Judy B. Carlile, Patricia Jean Christian, Carolyn Jean Ickes; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Henry Guevera knew what he wanted to do early on, entering nursing skills competitions while at Georgetown High. After graduating in 1975, he got a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and then headed back to Georgetown Hospital as a supervisor. Then it was on to UT to get both a Masters in the Science of Nursing, followed by a Phd in Nursing Systems.

Henry taught various nursing classes at Texas State University for seven years, and currently is a nurse practitioner for the City of Austin’s Public Health Department. His scholarly writing focuses largely on improving healthcare practices for Hispanic and Spanish-speaking populations.

The Georgetown/Carver Hall of Honor inducted Henry in 2001.

Civic Servants

Mary is sworn in with her husband Andres; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Mary Calixtro won her historic seat as first female Hispanic person to serve on Georgetown City Council in 2019, but her council service was just the latest stint of lifelong community advocacy. As a young mother of a family that would grow to five, this fourth-generation Georgetowner took on numerous volunteer projects on top of her bookkeeping job and family care that increased in time with many grandchildren.

She worked with the county’s Neighborhood Conference Committee to help families with truant students get back on board and avoid the criminal justice system. As Mary said the Williamson County Sun, ““I felt they needed Spanish-speaking persons serving many of the children who are falling through the cracks.” She was a volunteer, staffer, and board member for the Getsemani Center where her children and many others in the neighborhood went for after-school and summer programs.

Mary with her grandchildren Natalie (left) and JoeJoe Palacios; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Mary became the go-to person at her church, St. Helen Catholic Church, for newcomers and longterm neighbors when a problem came up—such as the 2009 flooding in the San José neighborhood—or when people didn’t know where to get resources or answers. She served on the board of A Gift of Time, an organization supporting Georgetowners with memory loss and their caregivers.

She was a regular at school board and community meetings, so when she came to a Georgetown Health Foundation meeting about the needs of the southeast Georgetown area, she brought her insider knowledge.

Mary started an organization that would address those needs, along with Norma Perales, another longtime community advocate. The Southeast Georgetown Community Council (SEGCC). The group worked on community priorities such as forming the Affordable Housing Coalition to address rising rental costs and property taxes that made it hard for residents to stay in their neighborhoods.

SEGCC’s Norma Perales, Mary Calixtro, and staffer Cinthia Medina; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

They also started a College Readiness program, and advocated for an expanded bus system. They offered help for those navigating the complicated citizenship process. SEGCC partnered with the Georgetown Cultural Citizen Memorial Association to refurbish the Willie Hall Community Center on 17th Street near Old Carver Elementary. SEGCC merged with GTXConnect in 2017, which shares its goals.

So when Mary heard of the city council opening left when council member Anna Eby resigned her District 1 seat, she campaigned, drawing on her deep community roots. After she won, she kept on advocating for community needs, such as retaining a work force with affordable housing and for services such as grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods.

Mary lost her re-election bid in 2021, but she’ll keep on working for a better Georgetown. As she said to the Sun, “I truly care and want to help with what I can for people, kids, and their future.”

Lorenzo “Shorty” Valdez, Jr., became another first when he became the first Hispanic (male) Georgetown City Council member from District 1 in 1989. He served until 1993 and then served a second term from 1997-1999.

When he died recently in February of 2023, the City of Georgetown mourned the loss. And they applauded Shorty for his work for the city, especially during the years of big changes: “Valdez was on the City Council when Del Webb brought Sun City to our community, and he worked to make sure the new development would be positive for the whole city.”

Born in 1956 to Lorenzo Valdez and Josie Lopez, Shorty grew up in San José. He had a 38-year career at General Telephone Co. and Verizon Communications. He married his childhood sweetheart, Lucy, and they raised two sons and enjoy four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Retirement meant more time for his favorite game, golf, his family said in his obituary. But he didn’t leave community advocacy behind. Shorty served on the San José steering committee for the city’s plan to improve the San José and TRG (Track, Ridge, Grasshopper) neighborhoods, leaving a legacy for the future.

Llorente Navarrette began representing District 1 in 2000 when he joined the Georgetown City Council and served until 2003. Llorente also served in education and law enforcement. He was a Travis County constable, and a truant officer and teacher for Georgetown and Wilco schools. Llorente teaches now for Stony Point High School, serving students as a CTE teacher guiding them in career options.

His focus on law enforcement and community concerns continues. Llorente is on the board of Williamson County Crime Stoppers, which engages citizens to keep neighborhoods safer. He continues to weigh in with lawmakers over issues such as the use of the historic Old Carver School.

Llorente was steeped in community engagement by his mother, Ramona Rendon Navarrette. She spent 30 years supporting children at the Georgetown Head Start Program. Ramona was the cook, and she also spent hours getting to know the kids. She would keep up her encouragement with students through their adult years.

Ramona sharing local history at the San José shrine; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

She had a deep knowledge of Georgetown’s Hispanic history, and was sought out by local leaders to share that knowledge. Ramona was a skilled and dogged player in local politics and lobbied hard for community priorities such as regular voting. Ramona was well known for personally helping get local residents to the voting polls so they could exercise their right to vote. Ramona died in 2016; her husband Fred Navarrette, owner of a building materials business, died in 2019.

Lois Vasquez; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Another of the many people who were civic leaders without being elected to office is Lois Vasquez. Lois knew early on not to count on tomorrow. She first was diagnosed with cancer at age 24, and it recurred four more times. The cancers and her treatments took a heavy toll on her body before she died at 73 in 2015.

Nevertheless, she dove into volunteering with many organizations—on top of working fulltime for the Georgetown School District for 35 years, parenting two children, AND working with her husband Daniel Vasquez in the frame shop they owned near the square, Custom Frames by Daniel.

Lois volunteered constantly—almost always serving on the board—at the Caring Place, Williamson and Burnet County Opportunity, United Way, Georgetown Public Library, Stonehaven Center, and Handcrafts Unlimited. At the schools, she served as a PTA officer and was active with band boosters. She was a Girl Scout Leader, and she was a Williamson County Hospice volunteer. Lois was an artist and she served for many years on Williamson County Art Guild Board. She was very active at her church, St. Helen, and did missionary work in Mexico.

Her involvement, say friends, inspired them to follow in her footsteps; these dividends added to Georgetown’s debt to Lois and others like her.

Protecting Citizens

Hispanics in law enforcement and first responders weren’t always allowed to be part of these essential services. But as those places opened up to diversity, Hispanic people stepped up. Meet some who did, including some pioneers.

The Georgetown Police Department was all-white for many years. Here’s the first police car purchased after the department began in 1948 with a chief and two patrolmen. Before that, a City Marshal answered all calls for police protection. Photo courtesy of the Georgetown Police Department

When Jesse Lozano, Georgetown’s first Hispanic fire chief, received the award of Georgetown’s Most Worth Citizen in 1968, it was easy to see why he was nominated. Jesse took on the city’s fire department in 1954 when it only had one paid employee and 12 volunteers.

Most Worthy Citizen Jesse with spouse Lucy Lozano; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Jesse not only grew the department tremendously; he made it his business to learn all he could about the best way to run the department, as well as dig deep in the science of fire equipment to make sure it was the best to keep the community safe.

Through the years, Jesse taught firefighting students at Texas A & M and the Municipal Texas Fire Training School. He founded a Spanish speaking fire-fighting school to train firefighters in Mexico. He also advised manufacturers and insurors about fire equipment standards.

Jesse and Lucy’s son Tony was one of Jesse’s first auto mechanics students. Photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

But the crowd that night of the 1968 awards didn’t know yet how Jesse would continue to enrich our community, providing the critical skill of auto mechanics to students in a legacy that flourishes today.

Jesse grew up in Georgetown as part of a family of eleven. He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and after, and it’s there that he found his love of fire fighting. He used the GI Bill to learn auto mechanic and took ownership of City Auto Service in 1965 in addition to being fire chief from 1963 to 1971. His business had a back door that led directly into the alley of the old downtown firehouse, his obituary notes, which would allow for Jesse to be on the first-out truck when the sirens sounded.

In 1972, Jesse got training to be a auto mechanics teacher, and launched the auto mechanics program at Georgetown High. The program started out using a donated barn, but over the years an auto technology building went up that would be named the Jesse B. Lozano Automotive Technology Center.

Eastview High School students won the Jesse Lozano competition in 2019.

A scholarship continues to be given in his name, as well as a 13-school central Texas competition, the Jesse B. Lozano Automotive Competition. Georgetown auto tech students at GHS and Eastview take honors at this competition and others statewide. And by the way, female auto tech students and teachers have in recent years thoroughly broken up the stereotype that only boys do auto mechanics!

When Rudy Aleman graduated from Georgetown High in 1967, it was the height of the Vietnam War. Wilco male grads were looking at the possibility of being drafted. Rudy decided to join the Army, as did his father during World War II, his uncle during the Korean War, and his grandfather in World War I.

Rudy served two tours in Vietnam as a military police officer. When he came back to Georgetown, he joined the Georgetown police department and served 6 years. Then he became a DPS state trooper, and thus began 39 years of service, mostly in Williamson County.

Difficult times were part of the job, such as helping folks devastated by the tornado in Jarrell in 1997. Rudy had to break the news to some of the families of the 27 killed in the tornado. That was also part of his job patrolling I-35 when accidents resulted in fatal injuries.

Other aspects of the job were eye-opening, such as busting people with cars loaded with marijuana or doing crowd control at Ku Klux Klan rallies. Or the day he came up to one of his favorite places to pop speedy interstate drivers and found it littered with hundreds of roofing nails.

Rudy remembers clocking a speeder at 120 mph in a chase joined by 14 more police cars.

Robert Hernandez; photo courtesy of *Williamson County Sun*

When the Iraq conflict heated up in 2004, Rudy was called to serve again in his National Guard Unit. They transported supplies, ammunition, troops, and body bags. The next year, Rudy retired from the military with 24 years total of active military service.

Rudy kept on being “Radar Rudy,” as his friends called him, until he retired from DPS in 2014. Although it was hard to hand in his “black-and-white” patrol car (typically a Camaro or Mustang), Rudy feels he has had a lucky career. As he told the Sun, “Someone’s been looking out for me because I didn’t have any problems.”

Lieutenant Frank Saenz; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Robert Hernandez became Georgetown’s first Hispanic police officer in 1974. He had already worked for two years on the police force in Brownwood, Texas, followed by five years as a deputy sheriff. Robert got promoted promptly—by 1975, he was a Georgetown police sargeant.

Hispanics remain a strong part of Georgetown and Wilco law enforcement. Frank Saenz has spent a career looking after vulnerable people. With jobs including youth counselor, case manager for children in crisis, and foster care family evaluator, he has specialized in finding resources for kids in foster care, shelters, youth in crisis or dealing with mental health challenges.

For the last nearly 20 years, Frank has helped find those resources for Wilco folks in distress through his work in the Wilco Sheriff’s Department. In 2004, Frank helped develop a crisis response team. As head of the Mobile Outreach Team, he and his team respond to mental health emergency calls, and they can often work with people in crisis to find resources and creative problem solving to keep them out of jail or the emergency room.

Since 2005, Saenz and the deputies diverted over 300 people and saved the county from an estimated $1 million in jail or uninsured medical cost. Frank enjoys helping people. “I guess I’m just a social worker at heart,” he told the Williamson County Sun.

Rene Alvarez has taken on many duties for the Georgetown Police Department since joining the department in 1998. He has worked in patrol, undercover, warrant serving, court security, and more. He was in charge of the department’s training and recruiting, and he teaches training and other work to city, county, and state agencies and organizations.

But Rene is justly proud of one particular arena, which is using his native Spanish to help both citizens and officers. Rene is a first-generation American, who came with his family who worked in the oil fields. Rene’s grandfather was a police office in Mexico. Frank used his Spanish fluency and knowledge of norms and customs to create a curriculum so that officers can communicate better and work better with Spanish-speaking citizens.

Rene enjoys being part of community projects as well. Earlier in his career, he worked with a department program called “Neighborhood Interaction,” which facilitated police participation with neighborhood needs. Rene worked with community leaders and then councilmember Llorente Navarrette to use city funds to renovate San José park. Rene was happy that he could, as he told Georgetown View, “focus specifically on a Hispanic neighborhood.”

Media Makers

Marcelo Tafoya grew up in Georgetown and graduated from Georgetown High in 1961. He was a reporter for the school newspaper, but his mind was mostly on music—music that spoke to him and his community.

When he got a gig on Georgetown’s radio station KGTN, Marcelo played and promoted Tejano music. Over the years, he became known as the father of Tejano music, receiving the first Tejano Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marcelo started out with a program on Georgetown’s KGTN radio, and expanded to Austin’s KUT and KAZZ stations. From there, he built a media empire that included two record shops, two record labels, an advertising agency, and two newspapers, Música and The Echo. He owned five central Texas radio stations, and hosted the first Hispanic television show in central Texas, Austin Presenta, on KTBC. He held live music events at the Palmer Event Center, Pan Am Hillside, and other spots across Central Texas.

At the same time, Marcelo advocated for Chicano civil rights, supporting the activities of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, in central Texas and the Panhandle. After the family moved to east Austin, Marcelo was instrumental in getting the Montopolis Recreation Center built, helping Chicano candidates get elected, and supporting community organizations and charter schools that sought to improve the community.

Marcelo and Isabel Tafoya at their Lubbock radio station, KLFB

Marcelo and Isabel Tafoya raised four children in Georgetown. Son Marcelo Tafoya heads an Austin ad agency. Daughter Melissa Tafoya-Cortez of Georgetown remembers learning all the radio ropes with her sister Michelle, working hands-on in the radio station—all before age 12! Marcelo was inducted in the Georgetown/Carver Hall of Honor in 2017.

David Valdez took this photo of presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter.

Recognize these guys? David Valdez sure does—because he was in the room taking the photo. David retired to Sun City after a glamorous career, traveling with President George H. W. Bush to 75 counties after being appointed Director of the White House Photo Office in 1988. He mingled with kings and queens and dignataries the world over, and he published George Herbert Walker Bush: A Photographic Profile in 1997.

David took pics with his Brownie camera as a kid, but he didn’t daydream of the amazing photography career that would unfold. When he was enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school in New Mexico, he was told that he’d be a photographer.

Post-Navy, he got a journalism degree at the University of Maryland and worked as a photographer for government and business before his White House years.

David subsequently worked in photography and media for Walt Disney Attractions, Blue Pixel Digital Experts, and the federal Housing and Urban Development’s public affairs department. These days, he teaches photography and leads occasional events such as a photo walk in Georgetown with other aspiring Austin and Georgetown photographers.

Dealing with Discrimination

Discrimination was part of life for Hispanic people. As for Georgetown’s Black people, eating inside a restaurant, shopping in stores, and living in white neighborhoods was off-limits. Martin Aleman recalled experiences in Georgetown’s Yesteryears, the fascinating series of Georgetown and Williamson County memories produced by former Southwestern University history professor Martha Mitten Allen.

Armed services veteran and businessman Martin Aleman

“I did not drink a cup of coffee in a restaurant in Georgetown until I went to Germany [World War II] and came back,” Martin recalled. “They wouldn’t serve us in the restaurants, they wouldn’t serve us in the drug store fountain . . . And it just gets you so. We were afraid to do anything about it.”

Discrimination also took the form of city services long delayed. Street paving and fire hydrants were installed in the 1970s and ‘80s; previously a child died in a house fire because of the lack of accessible water to douse the fire. Josefa Rodriguez remembered in Recuerdos Mexicanos that residents of Pine Street raised money to install curbs that were installed by Richard Zavala.

The Palace required Black and Hispanic people to sit in the balcony; the main floor was whites-only.

Jovita Zavala took on discrimination at the Palace Theater. Like most movie houses in the South, the Palace was segregated. African-Americans and Latinos had to sit upstairs in the balcony. One day, Jovita Zavala had had enough. It was during WWII, and she had a son fighting overseas. She sat in a ground floor seat reserved for whites, and an usher told her to go back up to the balcony.

Here’s how she reacted, as she told Recuerdos Mexicanos. “Where do you keep my ticket money?” Jovita asked the usher. “Is it separate?” When the usher admitted that money was not kept separate, Jovita declared, “Then I won’t be kept separate. My son is on the front line putting his life in danger. So this is where I’ll sit. Up front.” And Jovita Zavala did just that.

Discrimination even showed up in religion, because many Hispanics were Catholic, and anti-Catholic sentiments were strong. When a group of Hispanic Catholics wanted to buy land to build what became St. Helen Mexican Mission and then St. Helen Catholic Church, the seller was told the land was for a beauty shop. That way, he wouldn’t turn down the sale.

Church Builders

Hispanic Georgetowners followed their faith and worked hard to build churches. Catholics met in places including a tent, box car, and later in the homes of families. Before St. Helen’s Church was established, Hispanic Catholics were led in Mass by Father O’Reilly, a Notre Dame University Spanish teacher. The original St. Helen’s was built in 1931 on two lots at the northeast corner of University and MLK.

The newer St. Helen Catholic Church was built at 2700 E. University, and parishioners also raised funds for their K-8 school.

Protestant churches for Hispanic worshippers included the Getsemani United Methodist Church (now a community center), built in 1920 at 412 E. 19th Street near San Jose. The Pentecostal Iglesia Getsamani began around the same time; the original church was located at 306 West Street. In 1975, members opened a new church building that still stands at 911 W. 16th St.

Other Georgetown churches primarily serving Hispanic worshippers include El Buen Pastor at 611 W 17th St. and Primera Iglesia Bautista at 702 E. 15th Street.

Iglesia Getsemani Cladic Pentecostes at Scenic Drive and 16th St. is nearly 50 years old.

Churches are a center of Hispanic social life, and often were connected with many cultural events that brought the community together as well. The annual Labor Day weekend San José Fiesta brought people from all over to eat and play games and crown the Fiesta queen, who would raise money for scholarships. At Easter, the community would hold a Stations of the Cross procession throughout San José, starting at San José Park and ending at the San José shrine.

Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession in San José

Fundraisers were fun for everyone, including children and younger people. Churches held fundraisers called “Jamaicas” for the Jamaica red hibiscus tea that’s a favorite Hispanic cooler. It was a way for people to help out less-wealthy churches; supporters often donated food and drink to sell. People would travel to each other’s Jamaicas to enjoy food, drinks, and fun games.

Listen to this great recording of Margaret Miranda about funny ways the young women would raise money for the church, putting young men in “jail” to extract a contribution for jail release, and selling flowers.

So many women like Margaret were mainstays of the fundraising that kept churches alive and growing. And like many women, she did it on top of taking care of the family and often working jobs. Margaret raised 10 children along with her husband, John B. Miranda. As her family notes in her obituary, “she worked hard alongside her husband at the Braun Dairy for many years and spent 30-plus years caring for many residents as a certified nurses’ assistant; eighteen of those years were alongside her daughter, Susie.” Plus, she embroidered many gifts for family and friends, and loved to laugh at shows like The Golden Girls.

San José neighborhood advocates are working with the City of Georgetown plan to strengthen that neighborhood to retain its historical and cultural significance; keep it affordable for residents; and improve drainage and infrastructure. They hope to keep younger families who can keep the neighborhood that began so long ago thriving into the future.

The newly formed San José Neighborhood Association aims to carry out these goals and strengthen the neighborhood. Christina Calixtro headed the San José Neighborhood Steering Committee for the city’s ongoing project. Now she’s the president of the Neighborhood Association as well. She has been working with other neighborhood groups to share expertise on tactics to grow stronger neighborhoods. “There’s a lot we can learn from each other,” Christina notes.

Old Southwest or Track Neighborhood

San José is the best-known Hispanic neighborhood, but “Old Southwest” is the first place Hispanic people came. Mexicans traveled north in the early 1900s, farming in what became known as Old Southwest and then the Track (for the train track) neighborhood south of University Avenue. Hispanic families also lived in the Ridge neighborhood to the north above University.

Some worked in farms or ranches. They stayed in the then-rural Old Southwest neighborhood, says Recuerdos Mexicanos, because townspeople were reluctant to accept them in other neighborhoods. Some families were able to establish farms or ranches, such as the Clarito Zamora Ranch, which began in 1911. The Hispanic community, though spread through different Hispanic neighborhoods, were a tight-knit community, and they ate, worked, and played together.

Baseball team members were likely from the Old Southwest (Track) neighborhood or Grasshopper or San Jose.

Simona was born in Laredo and arrived in Georgetown in the early 1900s.

Some families established homes north of University Avenue in the Grasshopper and Ridge neighborhoods. One of the first arrivals to the Grasshopper neighborhood in the early 1900s was Simona Medrano.

Her extended family over generations intermarried with other Hispanic families such as the Sanchez and Dominguez families.

Simona is the great-grandmother of Mary Calixtro, Georgetown’s first female Hispanic City Council member (and co-founder of the nonprofit Southeast Georgetown Community Council).

Here’s Mary’s grandmother, Anastasia Sánchez. Mary spent some of her growing-up years in the Track neighborhood near the current La Plaza Market.

Later her family moved to their house at 10th and West streets. Mary recalls riding her bike around the neighborhood and hearing music in the evenings drifting down from the Dew Drop Inn a few blocks north.

Mary represents a remarkable legacy of Simona Medrano’s move here a century ago!

Celebrations and community fun

Whatever neighborhood was home for Georgetown’s Hispanic families, celebrations and just everyday fun were all in the neighborhood mix. Ball games, church fundraisers, boy and girl scouts, and meeting for volunteer projects were part of sociable life. Sometimes the gatherings were Hispanic-only; sometimes the Anglos joined in. Here are a few samples from over the years.

Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16 of 1908 definitely drew from across the community. As the Williamson County Sun reports, the city marshall and deputy sheriff were marching along with the parade and a leading citizen, Col. W. K. Makemson, gave an address. Everyone seemed to enjoy the parade and Mexican band and general revelry that went on until 4 am.—and look forward to next year’s Independence Day party!

Sports tended to separate out by color, with white teams generally separate from Hispanic and Black teams up until the 1960s or so. The results for the “local Latin teams” were sometimes reported in the paper. Here’s one of the teams, the Redwings, doing well that season!

The victorious Redwings from L-R back row: Lupe Vasquez, Esther Zavala, Jovita Richarte, Martha Acosta, Patsy Bracamontez; front L-R: Susie Ramos, coach Henry Vasquez, Chip Richarte
Of course, sports was sometimes just a pick-up thing, like this boxing match back in the 1950s when San José wasn’t all filled in.

Johnny Maldanado and Theodoro Valdez practice

Folks were always getting together to do projects for the community. Much planning went into doing all needed to open a new cemetery, the Georgetown Memorial Cemetery. Opening day in 1971 was marked with speeches, celebration, and a salute from Boy Scout Troop 150.

L-R front row: Daniel Roblez Sr., Henry Vasquez, Sr., Alvin Cruz, Victor Ramos; standing: Pete Zamora, Dario Navarrette, Rev. Rene Trujan, Richard Zavala, Rev. Jesse Valdez, L. J. Diaz, Fr. Charles Davis, Mayor Jay Sloan; photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Boy Scout Troop 150 raises a flag in honor of the cemetery opening. Photo courtesy of the *Williamson County Sun*

Churches drew in community members with food, fun, and fundraising events.

And one of the most-loved community festivals, the previously annual San José fiesta, is back in action! The Hispanic Business Owners of Georgetown, in partnership with GTXConnect, launched a revival in 2022 of Fiesta! to celebrate the Hispanic fabric in the Georgetown quilt.