Arnaldo Nelson Cavazos Sr.'s Obituary
Arnaldo Nelson Cavazos, Sr. On May 10, 2009, at 91 years of age, Arnaldo Nelson Cavazos, Sr.’s body conceded its life to the effects of old age. He was affectionately known as “Paw Paw.” His family and friends today celebrate his life of kindness, love and generosity. We will all miss him, especially his laughter and joy of life. Paw Paw was born in Montemorelos, Mexico on November 24, 1917; his father Alfredo Cavazos (1887-1949) served as professor of a Baptist seminary in Monterrey, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista of Mexico City, Monterrey and San Antonio and as an evangelist in various revivals in Texas. Paw Paw was very proud of his father. Paw Paw’s mother was Flora Cantu Cavazos (1892-1983). She was the daughter of Manuel Cantu, a well-to-do hacienda owner who was dispossessed of his land-holdings during the Mexican Revolution and fled in 1914 to Brownsville and San Antonio, where he became a businessman. Paw Paw loved his mother and gently cared for her, taking her into his home after his sister Gloria died in 1973. In 1928, at age 11, Paw Paw and his family moved from Mexico City to San Antonio. Although he was reading and writing at grade level in Spanish and equally proficient at mathematics, he knew little or no English and was placed in the 2nd grade with his younger brothers Oliver and Nelson. No bilingual support was given, and at the age of 16 or 17, after advancing to the 8th grade, he entered the business world. He became a broker, trader, translator and tour guide, and, except for his stint in the U.S. Army and a few weeks of employment at Western Auto, he was, for the rest of his life, self-employed, earning a living conducting business deals and, as he would say, “hustling.” He was good at it, and people loved trading with him and just being around his mesmerizing charm and laughter. He went on to own and operate two successful businesses in Dallas: an export business known as EMECO and a gourmet Mexican food manufacturer known as Churro Corporation, with the trade name of Adobe House. Although he only had an 8th grade formal education, he valued education greatly. He would often say “open your mind” and “think.” He implicitly taught and encouraged those around him to get an education and to honor those who had one and those who made a life of its pursuit. If one could not have an education, then one should marry into as much of it as one can: his wife graduated from TWU; his son and daughter both graduated from Baylor University and Baylor Law School; his daughter-in-law graduated from Baylor Nursing School; his son-in-law is the head of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at the University of Texas Medical School and Hermann Hospital in Houston; his grandchildren and their spouses are graduates of Amherst, Baylor, Duke, University of Illinois, Stanford, University of Texas at Arlington and USC. He was very proud of them all. He was equally proud of the love of his life. After a courtship of less than a year, on December 28, 1946, he and Nanny (aka Ila Mae Rinn Cavazos) were married in the “Chapel in the Woods” on the campus of TWU in Denton, Texas. Nanny, a beautiful blonde dietician, and Paw Paw honeymooned and celebrated New Year’s 1947 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. They could fight and make up more quickly than most and always lived by Paw Paw’s rule to forgive and forget and never go to bed angry. He would adamantly deny even the recollection of a fight or quarrel, much less the need for apologies. He was faithful and considered infidelity as unsafe, unclean and stupid (a very strong word in his vocabulary). Home was the center of life, and everything revolved around it. The home was sacred, and profane and coarse language was prohibited. Yet all comers were welcome; hospitality abounded. Besides his wife, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, Paw Paw is survived by only one brother, Mario T. Cavazos of Henderson, Texas. Paw Paw had three other brothers: Alex Cavazos of Dallas (1915-1996); Alfred (Oliver) Cavazos of Dallas (1919-2004); and Nelson Cavazos of Morehead, Minnesota (1921-1994); and two sisters: Gloria Cavazos Caneer of San Antonio (1913-1973) and Austreberta Cavazos Gass of North Carolina (1914-1987). Service will be 10:00 AM, Monday, May 18, 2009 in Restland Wildwood Chapel.
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