Juan Pablo Corchado - Ramirez

Juan Pablo Corchado Ramirez, a former bracero and businessman, passed away on March 7th as the sun set over his home in El Paso. He gave his last breath surrounded by those he loved most, his beloved wife, Herlinda Corchado Jimenez, of 67 years, and his family. He was 89.

Born August 3rd, 1936, in San Luis de Cordero, Durango, Juan Pablo was the youngest of nine children born to Rosalio Corchado and Rosa Ramirez. His father raised corn and cattle. His mother was the town’s seamstress, midwife, and elementary school teacher. Each child received a cow at birth, and Juan Pablo affectionately named his “Cenizo (Ash).” Inspired by Mexico’s Golden Era, they formed a norteño band, Los Pajaritos, with Mama Rosa teaching her children to play instruments. Juan Pablo played drums.

The relentless drought across Mexico forced locals to chase clouds and dreams. One by one, his siblings, beginning with his oldest sister Felicidad (Tia Chala), headed north. When the U.S. and Mexico created a guest worker program to address a labor shortage caused by young Americans heading overseas to fight wars, his brothers followed suit.

By the 1950s, all but Juan Pablo had left for the north, leaving him to contemplate a life in Durango. However, the demand for cheap labor and ongoing wars was unyielding. In 1952, the U.S. entered the Korean War, reigniting the need for braceros. Despite his mother’s pleas, Juan Pablo decided to make his way north, promising her that education would be for his children. He believed leaving represented progress.

Juan Pablo left his sweat in the cotton fields of the Southwest. He carved rows high atop his tractor in the fields of California’s San Joaquin Valley, holding his cowboy hat with one hand, steering the wheel with the other. He saved enough money to buy a catering truck and started a new business. In the late 1970s, he and his wife, Herlinda, moved to El Paso, where they finished paying for their home and opened a restaurant on South El Paso Street, three blocks from the U.S.-Mexican border. They named it Freddy’s Café after their oldest son, Alfredo.

The restaurant became a hub for the border community where political advocates, environmentalists, immigration advocates, and artists gathered on Sunday morning to discuss the future, over menudo and huevos rancheros. The space was nonpartisan.

Throughout his life, Juan Pablo played by the rules. He worked hard, paid his taxes, and believed in the promise of the United States – even buying a cemetery plot in El Paso.

In recent years, however, he felt unwanted as the wave of anti-immigrant sentiments grew. Still, where politics failed, his faith kept him resolute.

In the end, he decided it was best for his remains to be buried near his mother and daughter, Lupita, in San Luis de Cordero.

Juan Pablo is survived by his wife, Herlinda, and his children Alfredo (Angela Kocherga), Juan Pablo Jr. (Yedsmin Gonzalez), Lupita+, Mario (Lucy Calanche), Francisco (Maria Elena+), David (Rosa Isela Lopez), Edmundo, Monica, and Linda. He has nine grandchildren, Irene, Rene (Jessica Luevano), David Andrew (Connie Medina), Paola, Luzely (Hector Pacheco), Wendy, Rosalinda, Louie+, Cristian, and Camila, and his favorite fur grandson, Milo; nine great grandchildren, Genesis, Trinity, Kaleb, Giovanni, Justus, Jaylani, Hector, Sebastian, and Elena.

A rosary and mass will be held on Friday, March 13th, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 5750 Doniphan Dr., beginning at 10:30 am.

The public is invited to celebrate his life.

A Rosary will be held at St. Francisco de Assisi Catholic Church, 5750 Doniphan Dr, El Paso, TX 79932, on March 13, 2026, from 10:30 am to 11:30 pm.

A Funeral Mass will be held at San Francisco de Assisi Catholic Church, 5750 Doniphan Dr, El Paso, Texas 79932, on March 13, 2026, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.