[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                TRIBUTE TO MR. EDUARDO ANDRES LUCIO, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Eduardo Andres 
Lucio, Sr., the father of the Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., who 
recently passed away on September 4, 2006 at 89 years of age.
  Eduardo Andres Lucio, Sr., was born on November 10, 1916, in the City 
of Brownsville in the State of Texas to his parents, Teodoro Lucio and 
Maria Antonia Lopez Lucio. He then was baptized into the Roman Catholic 
Church at the historic Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville 
on June 11, 1916. He was one of 11 children: eight brothers and three 
sisters.
  Mr. Lucio also has a long familial lineage that stretches all the way 
back to King Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain, and several of his 
ancestors were conquistadores who fought with Hernan Cortez in the 
early 1500s in Mexico. Some of the descendants of his ancestors include 
the founders of Matamoros, Monterrey, Mier, Saltillo, and Camargo, 
Mexico.
  In 1937, during the Great Depression, he worked at the Chapman Ranch 
in Kingsville, Texas, and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 
Bonita Canyon in the small town of Douglas in Arizona. He later met and 
fell in love with his wife, Josefa Liendo, who would become his future 
wife of 65 years and mother to his 10 children. He then joined the 
United States Army Air Corps on December 30, 1941, in San Antonio, 
Texas, to fight on behalf of the United States of America in World War 
II. He was a part of the 46th Service Squadron which served in North 
Africa and in Italy.
  Mr. Lucio was honorably discharged from the Army of the United States 
on July 3, 1945, for a near-fatal injury which he had suffered in 
battle. He has various decorations and citations which include the EAME 
Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, four Bronze Service Stars, and four 
Overseas Bars. In 1996, during a ceremony held in the City of McAllen 
in the State of Texas, other World War II medals and ribbons were given 
to him by Vice President Al Gore.
  He worked hard for his family by achieving his goals of a higher 
education, first with the diploma from Brownsville High School on May 
30, 1949, and then an Associate in Business Degree from Texas Southmost 
College in Brownsville, Texas, on May 29, 1950. He then worked at the 
Cameron County Courthouse in the Sheriff's Office for almost 30 years, 
and in his last 3 years, he served as Head Office Deputy Sheriff with 
great pride. Mr. Lucio retired from his civil service in 1979, and 
enjoyed his retirement as a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the 
American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans of America. He also 
took great strength from his faith as a Roman Catholic parishioner of 
St. Mary's Catholic Church.
  Mr. Lucio is survived by his 19 grandchildren, four step-
grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and four step-great-
grandchildren. His eldest son, Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., 
has served as a public official for over 33 years. He has left behind a 
remarkable legacy in his children, who have degrees in education, 
administration, supervision, business, engineering, classical music, 
law, medicine, theater arts, school counseling, chemistry, biology, 
pharmaceutical sciences, and technology. He truly led by example and 
inspired his children to be the best they could be in achieving their 
dreams and goals.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to have had this time to recognize Mr. 
Eduardo Lucio, Sr.

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