Raul Hector Castro

Castro, Raúl Hector
Arizona's only ever Hispanic governor and a three-time U.S. Ambassador, died on April 10th in San Diego, California. Gov. Castro was 98 year old. Born on June 12th, 1916 in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution, Gov. Castro was the son of Francisco and Rosario Castro. His father, an influential union leader, was forced into exile and moved the family to the United States when Raúl was two years old. According to Gov. Castro, as he, his parents and his 10 siblings crossed the border, "The immigration inspector said, 'Castro family, you're in the United States of America now, the rest is up to you.' He was right. That's the way we wanted it. That's what America is all about." The family settled in Pirtleville, Arizona, the town built for Mexican workers at the smelter in nearby Douglas. Academically gifted, Gov. Castro graduated high school at the top of his class in 1935. While in high school, he adopted the middle name "Hector" (which does not appear on his birth certificate) because he admired a local athlete of the same name. Upon graduating from high school, Gov. Castro earned a football scholarship to Arizona State Teachers College. During his sophomore year, he switched from football to boxing, a sport he mastered going undefeated during his collegiate career. He graduated with a teaching degree in 1939, but unable to find work as an educator in Douglas because of local prohibitions against hiring Hispanics as teachers, Gov. Castro took to riding the rails cross-country in search of work in the waning years of the Great Depression. For nearly two years, he boxed and picked crops to make a living and help support his family in Pirtleville. In the early years of World War II, Gov. Castro found work with the U.S. State Department in Agua Prieta, Sonora in Mexico, just across the border from Douglas. His job was to eavesdrop on the telephone calls of Japanese and German businessmen. He left diplomacy in 1946 when a supervisor told him his Mexican heritage and lack of an Ivy League degree would limit his career in the Foreign Service. On the advice of a friend, he attended the University of Arizona School Of Law, working as a Spanish instructor there before graduating with a law degree in 1949. He practiced law in Tucson until his election as the first Hispanic Pima County Attorney. "People told me a Mexican American can't run for office in Pima County. I told them, 'Has anyone ever tried?' " In 1954, Gov. Castro tried and won. In 1958, he won election as Superior Court Judge in Pima County and earned a reputation as being "patient and fair". President Lyndon Baines Johnson appointed him to serve as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador in 1964, then Ambassador to Bolivia in 1968, shortly after the execution of communist guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Gov. Castro narrowly escaped assassination by declining an invitation from Bolivia's President Rene Barrientos to accompany him by helicopter to the dedication of new highway. The helicopter exploded as it left the airport tarmac and Barrientos was killed. Dismissed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican, Gov. Castro, a Democrat, returned to Arizona in 1969. He ran for governor the following year, but lost to incumbent Gov. Jack Williams by just over 7,000 votes. Gov. Castro ran again in 1974 with Dennis DeConcini (later a U.S. Senator from Arizona) working as his campaign manager, this time defeating Russ Williams (no relation to Jack Williams) by about 4,000 votes. Former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said in a 2008 interview for the documentary film, Raúl H. Castro: Two Cultures, Many Challenges, "When he ran for governor, it was tough in Arizona, for a Democrat, for a minority, to run for any statewide office. But I think he understood that unless you challenge barriers, unless you challenge conventional wisdom, particularly in politics, that change never occurs." Gov. Castro resigned his governorship in October 1977 after his appointment by President Jimmy Carter to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Argentina during that nation's brutal dictatorship. He said that resigning as governor after only two years in office "was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make in my life." He returned to Arizona from Argentina in 1980 and practiced law in Phoenix, Tucson and Nogales before retiring at the age of 90. After his retirement, he stayed active as a community volunteer and philanthropist, often speaking to children and young adults about the importance of earning a good education. In an interview for the documentary about his life, Gov. Castro said, "The thing I enjoy the most is going to elementary schools, talking to third, fourth and fifth graders. I can look at a child, a Yaqui kid, a Hispanic kid, a white kid… and I can motivate those children." Gov. Castro sometimes visited children at Raúl H. Castro Middle School in Phoenix. The children from the school sent him "get well" cards shortly before he passed away. After his family, among Gov. Castro's greatest loves, were horses. The family owned a pony farm in Tucson. Gov. Castro loved riding his horse Palomo in the foothills behind the Castro home on River Road. His neighbors included the famed Arizona artist Etorre "Ted" DeGrazia and Gilbert "Gibby" Ronstadt, the father of the popular musician and vocalist, Linda Ronstadt. Gov. Castro's daughter, Beth Castro, said her father enjoyed working in the yard, painting the whiteboard fences in front of their home, cleaning corrals and feeding the animals. "He loved reading his newspapers and watching sports," she said. A University of Arizona graduate, Gov. Castro and his grandson Don Daley III, an Arizona State University graduate, would rib often each other about which school had the best sports teams. Gov. Castro lived as full and meaningful a life as any man could imagine. He made history though his public service while helping to improve the lives of the countless numbers of people with whom he came in contact-though his family simply knew him as our beloved patriarch and a man to be cherished and respected. He lived his life guided by the philosophy that if he treated other people with respect that he would earn their respect in return. He believed that a quality education brings every opportunity in life, and well into his 90s Gov. Castro often took time to encourage young people to stay in school and pursue their professional and creative goals. He believed passionately in service to his community. He loved Arizona and the people he had the honor of representing as the state's 14th governor. He was proud that he was the first Hispanic elected to serve as Arizona governor and of his service overseas as a U.S. Ambassador. He was proud of his Mexican heritage and his American citizenship. He believed the United States of America is the greatest country in the world. While he will be gravely missed, the Castro family asks that his relatives, friends and admirers in Arizona, across the nation and around the world mark his passing by celebrating his many and varied achievements and the dignity with which he lived his long and extraordinary life. Gov. Castro is survived by his wife, Pat Castro, and daughters, Mary Pat James and Beth Castro; grandson Donald L. Daley III and his wife, Ashley Daley; great grandsons Donald IV, Baron and Charlie Daley; grandchildren Wesley, Stuart and Kandria James; granddaughter Ann Marie Daley and great-grandsons Wyatt and Barrett Woodard. Memorial masses will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 272 N Rodriguez St., Nogales, AZ, at 9 a.m., May 15, and at St. Augustine's Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701, May 15, 2 p.m. The official funeral mass will be held at 9 a.m., at St. Mary's Basilica, 400 E Monroe St, Phoenix, AZ, 85004. Gov. Doug Ducey and the State of Arizona will host a Celebration of Life Memorial at Arizona State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ, on Saturday, May 16, at 11 a.m. Gov. Castro's ashes with interred in a private ceremony at the Sedona Community Cemetery in Sedona, AZ. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Northern Arizona University, Raúl H. Castro Scholarship in Politics and International Affairs (#1680) or the Honorable Raúl H. Castro College of Education Fund (#5349), P.O. Box 4094, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011; or the Raúl H Castro Scholarship Fund at Center for Latin American Studies, University of Arizona; or the Raúl H. Castro Institute at Phoenix College, Attn: Development Office, 1202 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013. Anyone interested in sending notes to Castro family, please write to: The Castro Family, 12463 Rancho Bernardo Road, Box 518, San Diego, CA 92128. (Portrait Image by Sterling Hoffmann.)