Lauro Garza Marroquin was born in June 8, 1944 to Eulalio Garza Lopez and Dominga Marroquin Gonzalez. He is the third of six children.
Chances are that you have never heard about him and you will probably not hear about him from anyone other than me, Moises Garza, his fourth son. He is not famous, or rich. He is only a man that has lived and is still living his life. Whose only legacy will be those he will leave behind. A legacy that we all should be thanking our parents for since that legacy is us and has been one of our ancestors as well. No other legacy will endure the millennial as this one has and will continue to endure. It is important to talk about him to better understand that men and women like him have contributed a lot and are contributing to society without being seen or named since a person’s life no matter how great or small will forever resonate.
Lauro Garza 16 years old.
Believe it or not, he is the reason that you are now holding this magazine in your hands or are reading it in your electronic device. His tremendous ability to remember names and his grander than life stories is what got me hooked into Genealogy at a very early age. His tall tales of people now long gone that made an impression on him have also made an impression in me.
My father Lauro was born as mentioned before in 1944 in Rancho El Ebanito, whose lands have been in family hands since our ancestors obtained it from the king of Spain in 1767. He was born in a very humble Jacal. A jacal that in that same year was abandoned to move into their newly constructed brick and mortar house just about 200 feet away. After the family moved eventually that Jacal was re-purposed as a pig pen probably after the roof collapsed. The only thing that remains is the main supporting posts of hard mesquite wood and part of the chimney that once was used to cook for the family. Exactly where my father was born, as a marker, there now stands a mesquite tree that grew in its own accord.
He grew up to be a farmer and a cattle rancher. I still remember, and from time to time can still smell the sweet aroma that tractor fumes and fresh-turned soil make. I loved to watch him work on the tractor from one side of the field. I also still clearly remember those cold winter days when it would freeze and I would go with my father to Chamuscar Nopales. For those that don’t know Chamuscar Nopales is basically using a flame thrower to burn the thorns of the Prickly Pear Cactus so that the cows may eat it. During winter this was mainly the main source of food for the cows. As it is the memory of a small child I thought I was going to grow up one day to till those same fields and also heard those same cows but destiny had its own plans.
As many of us did when in school, one day I got a special project and it was to make a family tree. I first asked my mother for her family’s information and she completely avoided it and off she sent me with my father.
My father, on the other hand, lightened up and for the first time, I saw a side of him I had never seen. He told me about his grandparents and many stories and quickly completed his side of the family and helped me with my mother’s side as well and even heard some stories about my mother’s father. That was my first brush with genealogy. Then one day, months later as we worked in the hot sunny cotton fields of Northwest Texas near Brownfield I asked my father for the names of his great grandparents and he just stared at me. He told me that he could only remember two of them and gave me the names of the ones he did remember. Months later he told me to go with him to visit his mom. During the visit, he asked her if she knew her grandparent's names and my grandmother got up from her chair went to her room, and came back with a piece of paper with the names of her grandparents. She said here they are I wrote them down in case I get too old and can’t remember. My father asked her if she knew who her great grandparents might be and she said no since she said she never bother to ask but that she should have had. After this, I was hooked, and all thanks to my dad.
Years later I documented over 300 hundred family members just from my father’s memories and entered them into my database. He has also provided me with invaluable clues that eventually led me to discover his ancestry on most lines back to the early 1700s and on some way further till the 1500s.
I have documented many of these ancestors and also shared them with everyone in my blog, by the way almost all of them are from my father's side. If you follow my personal genealogy blog www.wearecousins.info and have read the transcriptions about my ancestors just keep in mind that it is all thanks to Lauro Garza Marroquin my father.
Lauro Garza Marroquin working at the ranch:
On the tractor:
Recent Picture of Lauro Garza Marroquin:
Update 9-17-2020:
Lauro Garza Marroquin, age, 75, passed away on Saturday February 09, 2019 in Knapp Medical Center surrounded by his family. He was born in January 04, 1944 in Rancho Los Guajillos, Mexico. He is preceded in death by his father, Eulalio Garza Lopez (+), and his mother, Dominga Marroquin (+). He is survived by his wife, San Juana Tanguma Garza and his children Laura Mireya Pompa, Maria Eliza Capetillo, Luis Lauro Garza, Moises Garza, and Abraham Garza, Josue Garza. He is also survived by his sisters and brothers, Amelia Garza, Adolfo Garza, and Adelaida Garza, Pablo Marroquin Garza also by his 12 grand-children, and his nieces and nephews.
