Ray Carrasco

1935 - 2023

Ray Carrasco
January 19, 1935 - June 21, 2023
El Paso, Texas - Ray Carrasco, 88, passed away on June 21, 2023. He was a resident and activist for Latinos in Sacramento during the beginning of the struggle for equal treatment. He graduated from high school in El Paso and then Texas Western College (now UTEP). He served two years in in the Army in Germany with his newlywed wife and then moved to Sacramento, California, where he received a B.S. degree in Business Management from Sacramento State College (now known as California State University, Sacramento).
Ray was very active in the Latino community, beginning his career with the Sacramento Concilio, the first Latino community-based organization in Sacramento. He was the president of MAPA (Mexican American Political Association) during the civil rights era of the 1960's. His activism in the Latino community would be a motivating factor throughout his professional career. He moved on to the Sacramento Redevelopment Agency, where he emphasized the need for an inclusive agenda for Latinos and other minority communities. He would continuously call for "brown faces" to have a presence in meetings where it mattered and welcomed Cesar Chavez to Sacramento during one of the marches. His hard work ethic and effectiveness resulted in his appointment by the Nixon Administration as the Director of the western regional office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Los Angeles. His jurisdiction included the HUD/FHA Office for Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, including all matters dealing with indigenous communities. His commitment to the housing needs of vulnerable communities never ceased to be a significant focus of his work. During the past 25 years, he served on a foundation for low-income children and families of all types to receive education, jobs, and housing via funds received from international businesses in Europe.
He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Tencha, his sons, Ray, Ted, and Steven, and his daughter Cathy Carrasco Ames. He had five grandchildren, Zoe Gaetano, Jenna Ames, Sam Ames, Alex Carrasco, and Joshua Carrasco. He had many loving relatives in El Paso, Texas and Sacramento, California. He was born and raised in Ysleta, Texas, in 1935 to Ramon and Manuela Carrasco, along with three brothers, Robert, Henry, and Richard, and his sister, Martha who live in Sacramento.
He lived his life believing – we must risk going too far, to discover how far we can go.