{"id":14820,"date":"2019-02-05T09:27:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/?p=14820"},"modified":"2019-02-05T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:27:25","slug":"escobedos-receive-christifideles-laici-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/escobedos-receive-christifideles-laici-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Escobedos receive Christifideles Laici Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Christifideles Laici Award,\npresented in honor of Patrick F. Flores, is bestowed upon a Catholic couple who\nhave demonstrated by participation in parish life, the personal and ministerial\nrenewal called for by the papal exhortation, Christifideles Laici, calling the\nlaity to the vocation of responsibility for the Church\u2019s life springing from\nthe gift and mission of their baptism. Archbishop Gustavo Garc\u00eda-Siller, MSpS,\nhimself chooses the recipient of the Christifideles Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 recipients are Ruben and\nVer\u00f3nica Escobedo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruben and Ver\u00f3nica Escobedo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ver\u00f3nica Salazar Escobedo and\nRuben M. Escobedo are faithful Catholics, dedicated civic leaders, and\ncommunity volunteers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ver\u00f3nica spent 35 years with San Antonio Express-News<\/em>, where she\nserved as vice president of community relations and president of the\nExpress-News Charitable Foundation. Ver\u00f3nica was responsible for the Express News\u2019<\/em> philanthropic efforts,\nboth monetary and in-kind support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She currently serves as president\nof the Our Lady of Grace Church Pastoral Council and is president-emerita of\nthe San Antonio-Mexico Friendship Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruben, now retired, has more than\n50 years of experience as a certified public accountant (CPA), business\nexecutive, and community leader. Ruben served as chair of the Audit Committee\non the Board of Directors for Cullen\/Frost Bankers, Inc., on the Board of Director\nfor CST Brands, Inc., and is a past director of Valero Energy Corporation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruben is founding chair of the\nSan Antonio-Mexico Foundation for Education and serves on the Executive Committee\nof the Board of Directors for the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
\n
\nEver since Veronica graduated from Our Lady of\nthe Lake University in 1965, she has found a way to serve. Veronica and Ruben\ngenerously contributed to the rebuilding of the historic Main building, which\nsustained millions of dollars in damages from a four-alarm fire in 2008. \u201cI\ngive back,\u201d said Veronica, \u201cbecause I\u2019ve been very blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica learned to give from her\nparents, who learned from her grandparents. Growing up with two siblings in Rio\nGrande City, only a few miles from the Mexico border, Veronica watched as\nGabriel and Feliza Salazar welcomed Mexican children into their home, one at a\ntime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One boy, Paco, would cross the\nborder, spend the week with the Salazar family and go to school. On weekends,\nhe returned home, often with money. The family shared food, clothes and a\nbedroom with Paco. Gabriel ran an auto parts business and employed the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Paco, the family took in a\nMexican girl who had been molested by her father. Veronica\u2019s parents baptized\nher and taught her catechism classes. \u201cMy parents taught us to share our\nblessings,\u201d Veronica says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family creed: Use things and\nlove people. Don\u2019t use people and love things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica\u2019s grandparents lived the\ncreed in Alice. There, they cared for the homeless and made a lasting\nimpression. One place of learning bears their name: Salazar Elementary School.\nThe spirit of giving goes back multiple generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica felt the tug of that\nspirit at Our Lady of the Lake. Under the shepherding hand of the Sisters of\nDivine Providence, she learned about life, faith and service. \u201cThe nuns taught\nme how to live, how to earn a living, how to be prepared for all occasions,\u201d\nVeronica says. \u201cThe motto was \u2018Be gracious, be graceful, be grace-filled.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lover of languages — she majored\nin Spanish, minored in English — Veronica wanted to work for the United\nNations. But her father thought it improper for an unmarried woman to leave\nhome — except to attend college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, she found a way to use her\ngifts. In the late 60s, Veronica became a translator and interpreter for the\nGreater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Later, she became the secretary to the\npublisher of the San Antonio Express-News<\/em>.\nIn 1973, she began a column, \u201cDedication Rewarded,\u201d a popular series that\nhighlighted the extraordinary deeds of ordinary people. Nine years later, she\nlaunched the newspaper\u2019s community relations department — the first of its\nkind in the United States.
\n
\nShe rose to vice president at the Express-News<\/em> and became a charter member\nof the San Antonio Women\u2019s Hall of Fame in 1984. Two decades and much acclaim\nlater, Veronica retired from the paper but never retired from giving. She has\nserved on numerous boards and led many fundraising campaigns, including the\nannual Catholic Television of San Antonio Leadership Luncheon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of Floresville, Ruben received a bachelor\nof business administration degree from St. Mary\u2019s University. He began his\npractice of public accounting with Price Waterhouse in New York and, in\naddition to his corporate work, is the former senior partner of Ruben Escobedo\n& Co., CPA, where he managed his own company for 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Ruben was employed by Handy Andy, Inc.,\na privately owned regional grocery chain, where he served as president from\n1973 to 1977. He managed and expanded the retail business to 42 stores and\nannual sales of $250 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruben is a past chair of the Board of Trustees of\nSt. Mary\u2019s University, the Board of Trustees of\nthe Catholic Community Foundation, and the Historical Centre Foundation. He was\nco-chair of the $22.5 million capital campaign for San Fernando Cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ruben was a student at St. Mary\u2019s, he often\nturned to Assumption Chapel in Reinbolt Hall for a place to reflect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI spent a good deal of time in prayer prior to my\nexaminations,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I also prayed for professional guidance. What\nwould God have unfold for me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and Veronica generously supported the recent\nrenovation of that space through The Ruben M. Escobedo and Veronica Salazar\nEscobedo Charitable Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFifty years later, I realize how pivotal St. Mary\u2019s\nand the Marianists were in my life, and eventually in my family\u2019s life,\u201d he\nobserved. \u201cThis was a way for my wife and me to thank the Marianists for all\nthey have meant to the Escobedo family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their decades of passionate service to the faith and the broader community, Veronica and Ruben are receiving their recognition this evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n