MARIO VILLARREAL, BUSINESSMAN, BND COMMISSIONER, DIES

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

We have received word that Brownsville businessman and former Brownsville Navigation District commissioner Mario Villarreal died Sept. 5 at age 90.

Villarreal was an electrician who worked at the Brownsville Public Utility Board for many years as his father before him.

After he left the PUB, he started his own business, PESA, which supplied electrical equipment locally and to the maquiladora industry in Northern Mexico.

If you walked into his office, his walls were decorated with photos of him with Mexican presidents, U.S. politicians, and even one with Raul Castro. A WWII buff, he had a case filled with Luger handguns with the Nazi swastika and numerous mementos from the war.

A veteran, he served in the U.S. and Texas national Guard. He enlisted in in October 30, 1947 where he attained the ranks of Platoon Leader, Sgt., and later Ist Lt. in Company A, 112th Light Armed Cavalry Regiment. He was honorably discharged on June 1963.

In 1974, he launched PESA (Promociones y Edificaciones Sociedad Anónima), which is still in business at 700 E. Levee Street.  He ran and won an election for commissioner of the Port of Brownsville from 1996 to 2000 and served as president and vice-president of the board.

It was through his drive that the city got around to repairing and renovating the fountain at Washington Park, a subject close to his heart because his father and Mary Yturria were instrumental in getting it built and installing the lights that change colors which delighted the children.

On his own, and wanting no compensation, he sought - and eventually attained - light fixtures to return the fountain to its original grandeur.

When a student was gunned down by police at Cummings Middle School, he sought out the biological mother and contributed $1,000 toward the boy's funeral, anonymously.

Many remember him because of such unselfish acts of charity. He decried the politicization of the BPUB and called for at least two permanent position there to be held by an electrical and hydrological engineer to advice the board members on those issues.The board was set up separate from the city commission for that very reason, he said.

A product of downtown Brownsville he grew up on Jefferson Street, then on Villa Verde. He never forgot his beginnings and was passionate about making the city a better place for everyone.

May he R.I.P. and we extend our deepest condolences to his wife and his extended family.