María Esther Campos

Maria “Esther” (Estrada) Campos was born in Houston on October 6, 1930. Her father was Carlos Salas Estrada, and her mother was Concepción Garcia. After graduating from Houston’s Jeff Davis High School (now Northside High School) in 1948, she met and married Jesse T. Campos of Baytown on October 17, 1953. The couple had four children: Adrian Campos; Olga Campos Benz (Kevin); Maria Edna Campos (Eldon Thomas); and Leah Aguirre (Joe), 7 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren. Mrs. Campos is preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 57 years, Jesse, and daughter, Leah. Mrs. Campos and her husband enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and Mexico, in addition to numerous extended trips to Europe.

Mrs. Campos enrolled at the University of Houston College of Education in 1959. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1963 and her master’s degree in 1966. At that time, pursuing higher education was unheard of for a married woman with 4 school-aged children, but especially for a 25-year-old Latina from Houston’s East End! In 1962, she became one of the first bilingual instructors hired by the Houston Independent School District and continued climbing HISD’s professional ladder as a Counselor and an Assistant Principal. Even though she did not complete her PhD, she continued to dedicate her life to improving the educational opportunities for all students and in 1993, she retired early from HISD to run for Trustee, District VIII. Mrs. Campos proudly served for a decade and is recognized for bringing about positive change to the largest school district in the state, 7th largest in the nation.

In May 2021 at the age of 91, she was awarded U of H’s degree of Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa.

Mrs. Campos held various leadership positions including her service as a board member of Harris County Children's Protective Services; a board member of Hope Housing; a delegate to the Democratic National Convention; a founding member of the Tejano Democrats (formerly the Mexican American Democrats); a member of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) and as Fellow of Class XIII of American Leadership. She has been recognized by Houston Hispanic Women in Leadership, United Families/Familias Unidas, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), by Houston Fiestas Patrias, and by the Anti-Defamation League of the Southwest. Mrs. Campos is also a member of the J.S. and Lillie Abercrombie Society and has bequeathed many of her hand-stitched quilts created over her lifetime, be sold with the proceeds benefitting Texas Children’s Hospital.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Maria Esther Campos can be made to Texas Children’s Hospital online here or mailed to Texas Children’s Hospital, Office of Philanthropy, Suite 6226; PO Box 300630, Houston, TX 77230-0630.

The family would like to thank the staff of St. Dominic’s Village Senior Community, where Mrs. Campos was a resident, and to the staffs of Star of Texas Hospice and of the University of Texas Physicians’ Center for Healthy Aging for their care and concern extended to our mother.