Horacio Ramírez
(59 pages)
Listen to the interview
Biography:
Judge Horacio Ramírez was born Horacio Sabas Ramírez in Hebbronville, Texas in 1922. He attended the Colégio Altamirano in Hebbronville and the prestigious Ateneo Fuente school in Saltillo, Mexico, and completed secundaria (high school) in Monterrey from 1937-1940. He returned to the U.S. in 1940 and attended St. Mary's University briefly before he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. He received his undergraduate degree from St. Mary's University, married in 1949, and returned to Hebbronville to farm and raise cattle. He worked for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the Texas Dept. of Agriculture, and then with the Texas Department of Public Welfare for 16 years. He was appointed as county and district clerk in the late 1960s and later as county auditor for Duval County. He was president of the board of the county's water control and improvement district and served as a delegate for the Democratic Party in numerous elections. He first ran for election as county judge in Duval County, and then in 1968, he ran for state representative but lost both elections. He successfully ran for County Judge in Duval County in 1986 and was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the VFW, and the American Legion. He died in 2005.
Interview Summary:
Judge Horacio Ramírez begins with his personal and family background and covers his education in Mexico. He briefly describes the attitudes of the Texas Rangers toward Mexican Americans during Prohibition, particularly Captain William McMurray, and segues into a discussion on land grants. He differentiates between Jim Hogg and Duval counties and touches on the Franciscan Fathers at Scottus College. He tells about Mexican Americans involved in local banking institutions and gives details about his missions in the U. S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He focuses on his election campaigns and funding efforts and speaks at length about the 1956 murder investigation into the death of his uncle, Francisco Barrera Guerra, Jr., and the ensuing trial against Rafael Garza. He shares information on his Duval County Judge election win over incumbent O. P. (Oscar) Carillo and expounds on the local economy and his efforts at handling public services for the unincorporated county areas, and notes the county's sources of income. He talks about a number of area ranches and mentions a number of prominent Mexican American politicians such as Sylvia García, Ciro Rodríguez, and Rudy Gutiérrez.
Locations of residence or activity:
Heberville (no such town in Almanac; assume it is Hebbronville)
Interview Date:
3/18/2002