Two Conquistador awards and a Star on the Mountain Award went to an unheralded South El Paso businessman and two El Paso historians at today’s El Paso City Council meeting.
Jose Santos, a longtime South El Paso grocer and businessman credited with helping to bring $500 million in federal funds to El Paso in the 1970s for public housing and the start of Clinica Familiar de Salud La Fe, was recommended for the city’s highest civic honor by city Rep. Steve Ortega.
A butcher by trade, Santos worked at several grocery stores before opening his own store on South Stanton in 1974 that became known as Food City.
As he became involved in civic affairs, his advice was sought by presidential administrations, Texas governors and El Paso mayors, including the late Mayor Jon Rogers, with whom he worked closely.
It was during the Nixon administration that Santos was involved in the appropriation of $500 million for public housing and La Fe.
He was the first Hispanic to serve on the board of AT&T when it was the nation’s only telephone company.
The council also awarded the Conquistador to Fred Michael Morales for his work on the history of El Paso and particularly Chihuahuita contained in 26 volumes, 175 historical exhibits and dozens of historical tours.
Leon Metz, a popular historian with 19 books to his credit and a 20th on the Mexican Revolution at the publisher’s, had already received the Conquistador, so Mayor John Cook awarded him the Star on the Mountain for Lifetime Achievement.
He also served as the city’s chief administrative officer under former Mayor Tom Westfall from 1979 to 1981 and was a special assistant to former UTEP President Haskell Monroe.
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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30
