Antonio Mateo Ramirez Jr.

I was born June 26th 1948 in Laredo, Texas. My parents Antonio Mateo and Alice Elizabeth (Martin) have predeceased me as have my grandparents Felix and Alicia Martin, Ramiro and Herlinda Ramirez, as well as my brother Federico Ramirez, and sister Bettina Clark. I have 2 surviving siblings, Roberto Ramirez (Sally) and Deanna Whaley (Daniel). Although Laredo is a difficult town to grow up in, I survived until I left for the United States Navy. I have always considered my life as pre-Navy and post Navy. I will not write about my pre Navy life in Laredo except to say that as a boy and young man the many disappointments I experienced far outweighed any positive influences that I may have had. However, it was when I returned from serving in the Navy and leaving Laredo that my life truly began.

I moved to Austin, Texas in 1973. It wasn’t long before I married the love of my life Janice Lynn Solomon on March 23rd, 1974 and got her out of Laredo as well. I had met her when I was getting my Pilot’s license and she was the office manager and in charge of renting out the airplanes. I knew almost immediately that I was going to ask her for a date. I did and before long we were together which eventually turned out to be for the rest of our lives.

We have lived in the Central Texas area up to now. We have three children, Eric Anthony, Jonathan Louis (Silvia), and Mary Kathryn Newsom (Keegan). All three are still the bright lights in our lives. We now have five grandchildren, Garin, Cory, and Alton Newsom and Luca and Dakota Ramirez; each one a star in my and Janice’s eyes. My life with Janice has always been blessed. The journey we began in 1974 when we were married has been one of love, friendship, support, mutual respect, and focused on family. She has always been my sun in the morning and moon and stars at night. We created an atmosphere that made our lives and our family life beautiful. I decided to write my own obituary to save my family from having to perform this final task. I wrote my mother’s obituary and remember how difficult it was for me.

I studied and worked hard to earn an Associate of Applied Science, Bachelor of Science, and Master of Arts degrees. I was a professor at Austin Community College (ACC) for more than 30 years and from which I retired in June 2009. I was privileged to be the Department Chair of the Architectural and Engineering Computer Aided Design department (A&E CAD) for 15 of the 30+ years that I taught there. In 1998 I was awarded Austin Community College’s Teaching Excellence award and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) teaching excellence award from the University of Texas. I really enjoyed being in the classroom. Teaching was my passion. It was the students that energized and inspired me. I continued to teach part-time after I retired until illnesses made it too difficult. I was always proud to be an ACC Professor Emeritus from the A&E CAD department.

I am a Master Mason. I was a member of Onion Creek Masonic Lodge No. 220 A.F. & A.M. In 2010 I was honored to become Master of the Lodge. The Brothers of the lodge and the work that we do has always been special to me. There was no higher honor than to see my son Jonathan raised to become a Master Mason. Onion Creek Lodge began in 1858 and continued to be a lodge until today. It was indeed an honor and a privilege to be Master of the lodge. It did indeed make us better men.

Janice and I retired to our ranch. We raise cattle, chickens, Guinea fowl, and the requisite cats and dogs and enjoy our quiet ranch life. We came out and bought raw land and built a ranch. We are both proud of it. To my family and friends, remember me as though we were at an airport saying good bye and me telling you that I will see you again soon. We will once again sit and talk and laugh. “It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

In lieu of flowers contributions in Tony's memory can be made to the non-profit Neighbors Serving Neighbors.