Robert Jesse Guzman

Mr. Guzman was born December 24, 1932 to Henry Villarreal Guzman and Catherine Solis Guzman of San Antonio. He attended Central Catholic Jr. High School and graduated from South San Antonio High School, where he played on state championship baseball and basketball teams. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955.

Following graduation from UT-Austin, Guzman was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. He served with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and attained the rank of 2nd Lt.

In 1959, he married Helen Andrade of San Antonio. The couple was married for 44 years and had four children. After resigning his military commission, Guzman began working as an inspector with the Bexar County Health Dept. The family moved to McAllen in 1964 when Guzman accepted a position with Texas Dept. of Health to oversee migrant health programs along the Texas-Mexico border.

He earned a Master of Arts degree in Economics from St. Mary's University in 1968 and was a member of Omicron Delta Upsilon, the economics honors fraternity.

Guzman later became an environmental health specialist with the Texas Air Control Board, moving to Harlingen in 1966 and ultimately becoming that agency's South Texas Regional Director. He retired from public service in 1994. Guzman and his wife returned to San Antonio in 2003.

In addition to his public health career, Guzman taught accounting and economics at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and golfer, serving as a past president of the Pan American Golf Association and winning a national PAGA title. He coached Little League Baseball and basketball, was involved in Boys' Club of America activities and, to promote the sport of golf, collected sets of clubs and distributed them to children to encourage them in the game.

In his later years he took up birdwatching and often could be found building bird feeders.

Guzman was a descendant of a Canary Island family that settled San Antonio. He was member of the Bexareno and Canary Islanders Genealogical Society, and a Son of the Republic of Texas. While tracing his family's journey from La Palma, Canary Islands to South Texas, Guzman and a cousin discovered, purchased and restored a graveyard in Elmendorf where early San Antonio settlers, including many of his ancestors, were buried. The site now is known as the Arocha Family Cemetery. Robert

Guzman is survived by his wife, Helen Andrade Guzman; two sons, Edmond Guzman of San Antonio and Emil Guzman of Hilo, Hawaii; daughters Rosanna Guzman Barnett of San Antonio and Marina Guzman of Houston; two grandchildren; several cousins and numerous nieces, nephews and friends. His sister, Alice Guzman Morgan, preceded him in death in January 2004.

Pallbearers: Gilbert Perez, Raul Guzman, Nick Doñez, Gilbert Rico, Henry Montalvo, Cliff Barnett, Manuel Aguirre, and Rudolph Guzman.