Edmundo Raul Valencia Jr.

86, El Centro

Edmundo “Ed” Raul Valencia Jr. never forgot about his Mexican roots. In a well-known family story, he took his family on a road trip shortly after Christmas to visit relatives in Mexico. He made his young children leave their brand-new clothes and toys for their family in Mexico.

“I’ll buy you some more when we get home,” oldest daughter Irma Rister recalled him telling his puzzled kids.

Born April 19, 1934, in budding El Centro to a Mexican immigrant father and a Mexican American mother, Valencia epitomized the American dream, said son Michael.

He was a successful businessman with a commanding presence that was felt at home and throughout the Imperial Valley, where he and his wife, Mary, raised six children.

Valencia boldly maneuvered for his success from a young age.

The story goes that he asked his mom to enroll him in El Centro’s white schools because he wanted a better chance of getting ahead, Irma said.

“He was very ambitious and had a strong desire and determination to succeed — to obtain success, power and wealth,” Irma said.

He met his beloved wife of 68 years at El Centro Union High School where, like him, she was one of the only Mexican students. After he graduated in 1952, Valencia dashed plans of going to college, married Mary and became a father. He stayed put in El Centro to work for his father’s concrete construction business and provide for his young family.

He eventually took over the business along with his younger brothers, growing it to prominence in the region. Today, the Valencia name emblazons sidewalks all around Imperial County.

His local business clout helped land him a job as a regional presidential campaign manager for both future President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy in 1960 and 1968, respectively. He organized rallies and hosted the Kennedys when they were in the Imperial Valley. But Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968 devastated him, prompting him to quit politics.

Valencia instilled the value of hard work in his children. He taught his sons the family trade, eventually leaving them their own cement business.

In his later years, Valencia was a loving grandfather and great-grandfather, or “tata” as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren called him.

Great-grandson William Fritz, a reporter who wrote about his tata in the San Diego Union-Tribune, remembers Valencia’s endless teasing. When Valencia learned that Fritz hated being called anything other than his name “William” as a child, Valencia made it a point to call him “Billy Boy.”

Valencia never failed to remind Fritz, “You know, you’re a Mexican, right? Don’t ever forget you’re a Mexican.”

At age 86, Valencia died in Michael’s home on Feb. 26 of complications following a January COVID-19 hospitalization.

Valencia is survived by his wife, two brothers, four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.