[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 77 (Thursday, May 10, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1010-E1011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO MR. HUGO A. GUTIERREZ, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2007

  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Hugo A. 
Gutierrez, Sr., an American hero--a soldier, a father, a husband, and a 
great leader in the city of Laredo, who recently passed away on March 
27, 2007, after a courageous battle with cancer.
  Mr. Hugo A. Gutierrez, Sr., was born on August 1, 1925, as the 
seventh of his parents' twelve children in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. His 
family moved to Laredo, Texas, when he was a small child, and thus 
began his great love for the city and its people. His father passed 
away when he was only 14 and Hugo started working to provide for his 
family. Two years later, when his eldest brother, Adolfo, passed away 
from complications from appendicitis, Hugo began work as an electrician 
with the Koenig Electric Company so that he could

[[Page E1011]]

earn more money to feed and clothe his family.
  At 18, Hugo served for 2\1/2\ years in World War II. He helped detect 
land mines to protect his fellow soldiers. After the war, he returned 
to Laredo and soon met his late wife, Ofelia Alvarado. Together they 
started a family. In 1959, he started his own electrical company, 
Hugo's Electric Company, in 1959.
  Mr. Gutierrez's four sons, Hugo A. Gutierrez, Jr., Ricardo, Aldolfo, 
and Roberto learned the value of entrepreneurship by working with their 
father. In 1995, Mr. Gutierrez and his sons purchased a majority 
interest in what was then Falcon National Bank. At this point he became 
chairman of the board, and his son, Adolfo, took on the role of 
president and CEO of Falcon International Bank. Under their leadership, 
the bank became one of the premier financial institutions in south 
Texas.
  Mr. Gutierrez was loved and respected by hundreds in the city of 
Laredo. He is survived by his four sons, sisters Mela Serna, Esperanza 
Pena, Rosa Smith, brothers Arnoldo, Hector and Feliciano and his 15 
grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I am honored to have had this time to recognize Mr. 
Hugo A. Gutierrez, Sr.

                          ____________________