[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5329]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF JESUS CARDENAS, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RAUL RUIZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 16, 2013

  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Jesus Cardenas, Sr., 
a great man whose life embodied the American Dream. After a battle with 
cancer, he passed away on March 5 at the age of 73.
   Born on March 20, 1939, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, Jesus came 
to this country at the age of eighteen to work as a manual laborer 
under the Bracero Program. He spent long hours picking fruits and 
vegetables in fields from southern California to Washington for little 
pay and under harsh working conditions. Ever the entrepreneur, one day 
Jesus traded some tools for a pregnant pig, which he brought home to 
his wife Luz. From that beginning investment, Luz grew a small pig farm 
while Jesus continued to work in the fields. The couple began a small 
business by selling pork and poultry, as well as Luz's signature home-
cooked food. Their steady efforts led them to open the first Cardenas 
Markets grocery store in Ontario, California in 1981.
   Today, there are 29 Cardenas stores in cities throughout southern 
California, and in Las Vegas. In my district alone, there are 4 stores, 
which employ more than 500 people. Jesus extended the warmth and 
hospitality that made his grocery stores so popular to the communities 
they served. His business has established close to $250,000 in 
scholarships, including a program in my district that helps students 
who live close to Cardenas stores to attend the local community 
college, College of the Desert. Jesus himself did not have the luxury 
of much education, but that did not stop him from providing it to 
others.
   Jesus Cardenas is a model American, who started from humble 
beginnings and created his own success with hard work and a strong 
sense of both personal and social responsibility. His life's work will 
live on through the many people his stores and philanthropy have 
touched, and as an inspiration to people everywhere who seek to achieve 
the American Dream.

                          ____________________