6/29/2003 - Pete Garza - Drive to help others doesn't stop at 75

Drive to help others doesn't stop at 75
BY ANGELA PATTERSON
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Ask Pete Garza why he's still working and he gives a simple reply: "Because I'm still eating."

Garza, who turns 75 today, has no intentions of slowing down.

"When people retire, they retire to something they like," Garza said. "But when I work, I'm doing what I like. I like helping people."

Garza's been helping people as a surgical technician since 1956, and he still gives his time to two organizations dear to his heart: League of United Latin American Citizens and the American G.I. Forum.

"I joined LULAC in April of 1968," Garza said. "My friend introduced me to it. When he made the pitch, I was very into it. I didn't know it at the time, but my grandfather was one of the first members of LULAC. He was a speaker at the 1931 convention."

Since that time, the mission of LULAC remains much the same.

"In 1968, we were very involved in fighting discrimination," Garza said. "If we had a hard time when I first joined, I can just imagine what it was like before me."

By the time Garza joined LULAC, he was no stranger to discrimination. He was raised in San Angelo and moved to Lubbock in 1956. While in San Angelo, a registered nurse taught him how to be a surgical technician. After spending a year in Lubbock, he applied for a job as a surgical technician at the former Methodist Hospital.

"I filled out the application and gave it to the nurse taking them," he recalled. "She said she'd call if there was any openings. As I was walking out, I saw a nurse in scrubs and asked her if she was a nurse. She said that she was the director of nurses. I told her I'd applied for a job, but they said there were no openings. I showed her the recommendation letters I brought and she said, 'If you're half as good as these letters say, then you've got a job.' "

However, when Garza and the director of nurses went to get his application, the other nurses had thrown it in the trash.

Eventually, Garza got the job.

"I knew they didn't want me to work there, but I worked there for five years," he said. "But there were people who didn't like me simply because I was Hispanic."

Garza said the fact that discrimination still exists is why he stays active with LULAC. It may not be as obvious as it once was, but it still exists, he said.

"People come to LULAC meetings and complain about discrimination problems they have at work or school," Garza said. "There is still a lot of discrimination in disguise. We go to the person's job or school and try to solve the problem. Some times you have to be firm."

Garza has been president of the local LULAC chapter six times and district director six times. He also worked for several months to get a LULAC council started in Plainview.

"I'd organized a council, but it had fallen apart," Garza said. "So I reorganized. I went and spoke at Masses trying to get people to join. It took 13 trips to Plainview before I could get 10 people. But it was worth it. They won council of the year three years ago."

People have asked Garza why he works for a Hispanic organization instead of one that is more mainstream.

"I tell them it's because as Hispanics, we aren't mainstream," Garza said. "We have our own needs and concerns that need to be addressed."

The main concern of LULAC today is education for young Hispanics, he said.

"LULAC believes that the betterment of our people will come through education," Gar za said. "If the young people get educated and get good jobs, then hopefully they will turn around and help those that are less fortunate than them."

Garza encourages young people to join LULAC, even though it's hard to get them to listen because, he said, they believe there no longer is a need for the organization.

"This is important for young people because it is through organizations like this that they learn the system," Garza said. "They need unity. They need to belong to something. There is a love here, and we can help them. They need to know that they are not alone."

Angela Patterson 766-8716

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