[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         TRIBUTE TO J.J. RAIGOZA

                                 ______


                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, I request the article that appeared in the 
Pueblo Chieftain on September 17, 1994, honoring a giant of a man, 
``JJ'' Raigoza, be inserted into today's Congressional Record.

           [From the Chieftain (Pueblo, CO), Sept. 17, 1994]

         ``JJ'' Raigoza: A ``Giant of a Man'' in Size, Humanity

                            (By Gail Pitts)

       ``JJ'' Raigoza was indeed a giant of a man.
       At 6 feet 2 inches tall and 320 pounds, he was physically 
     imposing.
       But equally, he was a giant of a human being, in his 
     enthusiasm, his compassion and his advocacy.
       ``He was an advocate since the day he left the service,'' 
     his older son, JJ II, said Friday.
       Johnny Jesus ``JJ'' Raigoza died Wednesday at age 49 
     following a two-month illness. Funeral mass will be at 10 
     a.m. today at St. Francis Xavier Church followed by interment 
     with full military honors at Imperial Gardens.
       ``He was a tremendous advocate for all the youngsters,'' 
     recalled John Tracey, chief judge of the 10th Judicial 
     District where Raigoza had been a probation officer since the 
     mid-1980s. ``But at the same time, if they didn't respond, be 
     would be the first one to come in and say it was time they 
     received some serious consequences.''
       Tracey recalled first meeting Raigoza when he applied for 
     the Pueblo job after serving in Colorado Springs.
       ``He just exuded a kind of enthusiasm for the job and you 
     felt that here's a man who's got not only some enthusiasm, 
     but will bring new ideas and invigorate whatever be 
     undertakes.''
       That's what Raigoza did in his probation job, taking ``the 
     toughest of the tough in terms of counseling needs,'' Tracey 
     said.
       And that's what he did throughout his life, his wife, 
     Arlene Raigoza said.
       The couple met when both were working in the War on 
     Poverty.
       A Pueblo native and 1965 graduate of Central High School, 
     Raigoza graduated from the University of Southern Colorado 
     and served six years in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam and Guam.
       He became involved in everything, from neighborhood health 
     care programs to the Colorado Advisory Council on Alcohol and 
     Drug Abuse.
       He also worked as a guard in the forensic unit at the 
     Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, for the district 
     attorney, and at Spanish Peaks Mental Health Center.
       He played a major role in the Latino Chamber of Commerce.
       ``He was an asset to our organization,'' said Bonnie 
     Martinez, Latino Chamber president. ``He truly gave his time. 
     He always had time for everybody and everything.''
       Among dozens of accomplishments his proudest was his role 
     in the development of the Bessemer Ditch Rehabilitation Bill, 
     which was signed into law July 9, 1980, by then-president 
     Jimmy Carter.
       Raigoza had discovered the widespread flooding of basements 
     in the Bessemer Ditch area and worked tirelessly to see the 
     bill passed, she said.
       The family enjoyed a vacation in Washington, D.C., this 
     summer, a vacation they will treasure all the more now, she 
     said.
       Recently, he had lost a good deal of weight, Mrs. Raigoza 
     said. ``He wanted to get in shape.''
       And be formed his own business, AJ Connections, with an eye 
     to a dream of developing a demographics data and editing 
     business.
       ``He discovered computers,'' she said. George Autobec, 
     former Puebloan who operates a Center for Hispanic Studies in 
     Denver, ``kept telling him, you've got to get in computers.''
       He did and made sure the children, and Mrs. Raigoza, became 
     computer literate.
       ``He had a keen mind; he was very sharp; he was never 
     boring she said. ``To me he had charisma.''
       Judge Tracey agreed, ``I believe he was universally 
     liked.''