Questions from Cathy Part #3

1. What is my heritage? Where are my ancestors from? When did they come to this country and why? Where did they settle and what did they do there?
Boy these are long answers…… This is what I know…from Grandma Piñon.
My Heritage is mainly Hispanic… Mexican American…4th generation Texan! Grandpa Piñon’s family is from Mexico a place called El Jarrel de los Barrios, it is in Torreón, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico. All I know is that my grandfather Teodoro and his family came across the Mexican border the early 1900’s . One of our aunts said that they had a horse ranch in Mexico and it was taken by Poncho Via, so was told that they were jockeys. My grandfather Teodoro worked with the railroad most of his life. I remember him as been a sweet grandpa with a raspy voice.
On my mother’s side there is a long history:
My mom has a varied background her Grandfather was James L Daugherty who came from New England to Texas during the Sam Houston era to marry a Mexican lady Adela Lopez and he inherited a large piece of land by marrying great-grandma. His back ground is Irish. Grandma Ciria who is the only daughter from this marriage, married Jose Maria Rueda whose heritage is Spanish. I don’t know much about my grandpa.
Great-grandpa James L. Daugherty was a rancher and some type of a magistrate in South Texas. Grandpa Rueda also was a farmer in Hidalgo County , El Granjeno, don’t know how he got here or where he came from.

2. Tell me about your Mom and Dad (the kids great-grandparents) where did they grow up? When did they get married? How did they earn their living? What’s something you’d like me to know about your mom? About your Dad? What are some of the most important things you learned from your parents?
Mom and Dad both grew up in Hidalgo County… I know my Dad went to school in Mission, Tx and played football in Jr and High School with Tom Landry who became the first Dallas Cowboy coach, Dad was Tom’s favorite receiver. After High School he went to the Job Corp and learned how to be a mechanic. He then joined the Army Air Corp during World War II and served in Guam. After the army he came home and married Mom in 1947 (I think) and as far as I know he has worked as a Civil Servant as an Aircraft mechanic. He was one of the first Hispanics to do that.
I have always admired my Dad because he always strived to better himself. He taught me at a young age that being Hispanic was not my problem it was the people that saw me that way. He encouraged me to always strive to be better and get an education and move forward from where I was born. I also appreciate his overcoming many obstacles he encountered as he tried to be a better person. He made many mistakes but he also learned to move forward. I always knew that my Dad believed in me and expected me to always grow as a person. I can see that now at my age, I am sorry I didn’t see that when I was growing up. I think what I learned from my dad was that we all have choices to make in life and we need to let people live their own lives.

My Mom dropped out of High School when she was pretty young because her father died and she had to work to take care of Grandma Ciria and herself. She says she was 16 but I really haven’t asked her. I know that my mom worked doing many things as we grew up; she was a maid, a sales lady & teacher assistant. Mom always strived to find peace in her life and validate who she is. She taught me to seek spiritual guidance and find a religion that would make me happy. She told me a story about when I was a couple of months old I used to have seizures and when she took me to the Dr, they could not find anything wrong with me. She remembers taking me to the emergency room when I had a very severe seizure and it scared her very badly. She told me that the Dr’s told her to take me home because there was nothing wrong with me. She then went to the Hospital Chapel and prayed to Heavenly Father to take away my seizures and she would make sure that I served Him for the rest of my life. I never had a seizure after that. She taught me to seek spirituality For that I thank her, otherwise I don’t think that I would have accepted the gospel as readily as I did.