BUSINESSMAN, BINATIONAL REGION LEADER
HÉCTOR LUTTEROTH CAMOU • 1926-2020
Tijuana businessman Héctor Lutteroth Camou, a leader in the relationships between Tijuana and San Diego, died Feb. 10 of health-related issues. He was 93.
Mary Walshok, associate vice chancellor for Public Programs and dean of Extension at the UCSD, remembered him as a quiet person with strong ideas who helped shape today’s border scene.
They met in the 1980s, when then-san Diego Tribune Editor Neil Morgan brought him to a community board as part of his effort to include the contiguous Mexican community as part of the San Diego region.
Lutteroth was born in 1926 in the Mexican state of Sonora. He came to Tijuana in 1961 to help his father with the Country Club hotel. Later, he helped to create jobs in the real estate, restaurant, and sports markets. His company Grupo AFAL (an acronym for Asociación Familia Lutteroth), was the first to take a Carl’s Jr. franchise to Baja California and Mexican northern region in 1991.
He was also a political figure in Baja California. Among his public positions he chaired the local committee at Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), he was head of Baja’s Touristic Secretary and a federal representative.
His legacy crossed the border. He was once part of the San Diego Dialogue — a UCSD public policy research initiative co-funded by Walshok — and brought other Mexican leaders like him to the table.
As part of San Diego Dialogue, members of the community, business people, spiritual leaders and others would meet on a Saturday once a quarter. They would alternate locations between Tijuana and San Diego to talk about global cities, infrastructure and border-related issues.
“He helped create a community of leaders that were looking to the issues together. Talking about what a certain idea can mean for each city, trying to find what to do to make things work better,” Walshok said.
Alejandra Mier y Terán, executive director at Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said Lutteroth’s work still affects the border ports of entry.
“He built the relationships that still rule the way we work through community groups that meet every month with Customs and Border Protection to deal with border-crossing issues,” she said.
In Tijuana, he was a quiet community philanthropist who helped many people with basketball uniforms, sports equipment, or cash to pay for school fees.
“Many people that we didn’t even know have been telling us, ‘He was such a great person, he helped us to pay for my son’s school, he helped us to build a classroom,’ and that is just a testament of the great heart he had,” said his son Luis Lutteroth.
Lutteroth is survived by his wife, Mercedes Del Riego Lutteroth, five children, 17 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. A Catholic service was held Tuesday in Tijuana.
tania.navarro@sduniontribune.com