Bill Text: TX SR15 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: In memory of Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-15 - Reported enrolled [SR15 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR15-Introduced.html
Bill Title: In memory of Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-15 - Reported enrolled [SR15 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR15-Introduced.html
88S10177 BK-D | ||
By: Menéndez | S.R. No. 15 |
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WHEREAS, San Antonio lost an admired activist, artist, and | ||
cultural historian with the passing of Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez on | ||
May 8, 2023, at the age of 83; and | ||
WHEREAS, The son of Olivia Sanchez and Ramon Vasquez, Ramon | ||
Vasquez y Sanchez was born on the city's Westside on May 6, 1940; he | ||
attended San Antonio College and joined the staff of the Bexar | ||
County Archives to focus on the preservation of Mexican American | ||
history; in addition, he was a member of the Bexar County Historical | ||
Commission; he also gained increasing recognition as an artist, | ||
illustrating the Bexar County coat of arms and publishing work in | ||
newspapers and other media; his acclaimed paintings of the early | ||
Indian Missions centered on the ordinary people and Mexican heroes | ||
generally left out of historical narratives, and his subjects | ||
included daily life in the barrio; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Vasquez y Sanchez became a leader in the Chicano | ||
rights movement; he wrote the preamble for the establishment of the | ||
Raza Unida Party, provided graphic designs, and served as vice | ||
chair and gubernatorial campaign manager; as chair of the Bilingual | ||
Bicultural Coalition on Mass Media, he oversaw suits against the | ||
Federal Communications Commission that led to greater Mexican | ||
American representation among journalists; he was a fierce advocate | ||
for equity in city arts funding, and he was instrumental in | ||
establishing Centro Cultural Aztlan and ran its visual arts program | ||
for decades; in that role, he encouraged other artists, created a | ||
sense of community, and popularized public Día de los Muertos | ||
commemorations; he also fought for the inclusion of Mexican | ||
American and Tejano stories in the Alamo narrative and organized | ||
the first "Olvidate del Alamo" and "Las Mujeres del Alamo" art | ||
exhibits; tenacious and outspoken, he nevertheless expressed his | ||
strong viewpoints with grace, courtesy, and logic; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1988, Mr. Vasquez y Sanchez helped reorganize the | ||
Mission Descendant Families of Northeastern Mexico and South Texas | ||
under the umbrella of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation; he served | ||
as a tribal council member for over three decades; moreover, he | ||
formed the nonprofit group American Indians in Texas at the Spanish | ||
Colonial Missions and united with other activists to secure the | ||
return of over 150 ancestral remains to Mission San Juan | ||
Capistrano; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Vasquez y Sanchez married Gloria Camarillo in | ||
1962, and they became the parents of three children, Ramon Juan | ||
Vasquez, Edna Marie Vasquez, and Marisol Vasquez; he and his second | ||
wife, Maria Magdalena Gonzales, had one son, Javier Ramon Vasquez; | ||
following her passing, he was fortunate enough to find love again, | ||
and in 2013, he wed Maria Chavez, who survives him, along with his | ||
children and his 11 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren; and | ||
WHEREAS, Throughout his lifetime, Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez | ||
sought to root out injustice and illuminate the richness of Mexican | ||
American heritage, and although he will be deeply missed by all who | ||
were privileged to know him, they will treasure their memories of | ||
his wisdom, compassion, and wry sense of humor; now, therefore, be | ||
it | ||
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 88th Texas Legislature, 1st | ||
Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life of Ramon Vasquez y | ||
Sanchez and extend sincere condolences to his family, to his many | ||
friends, and to all who mourn his passing; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns this | ||
day, it do so in memory of Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez. |