Rudy Sanchez

On the 3rd day of August 1939, on the first Thursday of that month, if we swear the legend be believed, at the very moment when through the fields doves(or a plane or an airplane that resembled a stork)surged across the vast Texas skies, newest born son and brother, Rudy Sanchez was delivered into a patchy single room house by the midwife hand of his grandmother, somewhere either in Nordheim or Runge, a community of cotton thorn-riddled terrain, 50 miles northwest of Victoria, Texas. Obvious hardships through modest farmwork managed to sustain whatever resources they could eke from the land, and harvesting kept the family afloat nearly a decade before they sought better prospects elsewhere. The Sanchezes took a long hard look eastward.... One decisive day they took the train straight toward the horizon of the Bayou City and leapt off, the story goes, all seven children in tow, directly onto Houston Avenue. Soon situated in the central Houston neighborhood historically known then as Third Ward, taking residence where Edwards St. curves into Elder which circles into Bingham, the exact shotgun-style house has withstood the banks of the White Oak Bayou to this day still. Mid the free-range of childhood Rudy attended numerous HISD schools including Dow Elementary(in this era segregated for only Hispanics, now shuttered), Cooley Elementary(lost to fire), James Hogg Middle School, John H. Reagan(renamed Heights High)-however quick he might credit the 'school of life' and 'hard knocks' had honed his common sense into something more valuable: 'street smarts'. Such the unfortunate by-product of prioritizing work, and above all else, the means for real survival, in his teens he would sacrifice the fulfillment of a public school education, and despite the forthcoming years that established him as self-made, a business owner, a homeowner and steady provider, that withdrawal from the graces of an education nonetheless shadowed him throughout his profession. In the well-earned creature comforts of retirement, decades afterward in fact, he dared to set himself to task in the early 2ooos, in hopes to gain his high school equivalency. That same willful determination he had applied to his work ethic motivated him headstrong and wholeheartedly to earn his GED at long last, an achievement he often reflected on with great relish. In a scope as wide as our Texas panorama we should summon to mind and consider the odyssey of that simple newborn whose family rose from the grit of working fields, and how that ethic of sacrifice and perseverance when faced with serious challenges should foster an appreciation of roots beyond the mere telling and re-telling of memorable flashbacks-that these efforts have already touched deep-rooted in legacies that shall spread generationally, further influencing lives we cannot at this moment see. To walk across the stage in a cap and gown commencement ceremony, switch the tassel from the right side to the left, and finally take in hand his diploma, closed a deeply personal chapter in a life well-lived, a life fully deserving of commemoration.
Rudy is preceded in death by his parents, Lee Sanchez and Sofia 'Nana' Elizondo and remained the youngest and last born of the so-called Original Sanchez Seven. Eldest brother Jessie Sanchez, eldest sister Thomasina 'Tommy' Martinez, Edward Sanchez, Otilia 'Tilly' Crosby, and Emma Galindo, and most recently, Angelita 'Angel' Sanchez, his devoted spouse and the one true love of his life, all preceded him. They were married at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Navigation St. on the 7th of November 1959. This year marks their 64th wedding anniversary.
He is survived by his sister, Mary Gonzales, the last of the siblings, and also his three children, Lee, Rudolph 'Rudy' Jr., and Sophia 'Molly' Sanchez; his two grandchildren, Stephen Sanchez and Erica Llanas; in addition, to his eternal delight he lived long enough to embrace his great grandson, Eric Llanas. Son, brother, devoted husband, father, grandfather, and the final honor of becoming a great grandfather, Rudy was eighty-four at the time of his passing.
He had an early break as a musician, and cut-and-pressed a 33 rpm single. A self-taught machinist, in his twenties he began an industrious career working for Binswanger Glass. Later he and his brother-in-law, Leonard, founded a partnership at Manchester Lift Truck Inc. until he retired in the start of 2ooos. Among other pleasures he enjoyed such pastimes as playing the guitar and bass, camping, fishing, hunting, watching Houston sports teams in the mode of armchair coach, and possessed a knack for being handy around the house on 1225 Wakefield Drive.
As a footnote, carried from the earliest days of his youth Rudy's zeal for dancing simply cannot be overstated enough, and there are plenty who attest to how supernaturally gifted he was for the proverbial shaking of the legs. Indeed dancing made him genuinely happy. And moreover than just enthusiasm, he happened to be a spectacular dancer.: a rare, rug-cutting force who could only be matched toe-to-toe in pace alongside his favorite partner and equally graceful sister, Emma. His electricity tended to be both magnetic and contagious, as lightning seemed to erupt while they danced until the houselights flickered off-and-on that it was time to shut the party down. We ask, if you must dwell on anything, we hope you will summon to mind the warmer, more positive memories of this inseparable version of a figure whose ceaseless twirling and sliding across linoleum floors throughout the years brought him, and those who know and still love him dearly, such warmth and delight.