Tony Carrillo
Nov 16, 1936 - May 9, 2020 San Jose
Tony Sotomayor Carrillo, EDD, a retired San Jose State University professor, education advocate for the underserved and founder of the San Jose International Mariachi Festival and Concerts, passed away May 9 in Clovis at age 83.
Tony’s family remembers him as a loving father, with a sharp wit and booming laugh. Bolo ties and a big smile were his hallmark. A great joke and story teller, he was an avid gardener and loved hosting backyard parties with family and friends. He had a “take no prisoners approach” to playing Hearts. And if you sat next to him in Uno, you were in big trouble.
Born at home in Tucson, Arizona on November 16, 1936, Tony was the youngest of six children in a large family. His first language was Spanish, and he had said he learned English “in a class of only Spanish-speaking kids and a teacher who didn’t know Spanish.” The difficulty of that early school experience solidified his belief that everyone should have access to the life-changing opportunities that an education afforded him and that led him to a career devoted to education.
Tony receive his B.A., teaching credential and master’s degree from the University of Arizona. While attending college, he met his future wife, Anna, and they married in 1958. Tony taught high school history and political science before being elected, as one of the first Hispanics, to Arizona’s House of Representatives, serving three terms, before moving to Michigan to earn his doctorate degree in education at Wayne State University as a Mott Foundation Fellow.
He was an associate professor at Arizona State University before continuing his career at San Jose State University, becoming chairman of the Department of Educational Administration.
As an education consultant, Tony headed district superintendent searches across the country and was instrumental in recruiting women and minorities into educational administration positions.
As a national leader in the community school education model, he advocated having adult, migrant and bilingual education being incorporated into school systems and was a pioneer in distance learning and remote learning even before the Internet. He also served two terms on the Board of San Jose’s East Side Unified High School District.
In 1989, Tony and Anna founded the highly respected Unfinished Journey Project, which promoted higher education to underrepresented high school students. Collegelevel classes were taught on high school campuses by SJSU professors. Credits earned counted toward completion of high school, in addition university credit, and automatic acceptance into the university system.
As an homage to his Hispanic heritage and as a way to help underwrite the Unfinished Journey Project, Tony established the San Jose International Mariachi Festival and Concerts in 1991. The weeks-long series included concerts, Festivals, activities, and mariachi/folkloric workshops, involving over 1,000 students. The workshops were incorporated into music classes in schools throughout California, using music as the vehicle to drive students’ interest in math and science.
He also created the Mariachi Harmonia Concert Series, showcasing the San Jose Symphony Orchestra performing together with stars like Mariachi Cobre, Vikki Carr and Linda Ronstadt, with funds supporting student scholarships for the project.
Tony is survived by his wife Anna, his sons Anthony, Raymond, Charles (Susan), and Vincent (Carla), seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren; his sister Tillie Gallardo, brother Genaro (Charlotte) and sister-in law Emma Carrillo. He was predeceased by parents Federico Carrillo and Guadalupe Sotomayor Carrillo and brothers Frank, Leo and Msgr. Arsenio Carrillo. The family asks that donations be made in Tony’s name to St. Vincent de Paul Society.