Juanita Palomo (nee Pachecano)
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During the time of the
Mexican Revolution, Anita Carrillo and Reymund Pachecano married and migrated to
the United States to seek better opportunities. Mr. and Mrs. Pachecano migrated
to Taylor, Texas where they began a family. On the "Cinco de Mayo" (May 5th)
1943, Juanita "Janie" Pachecano was born. She was the sixth of
12 children. As the family grew and times changed, the Pachecano family
worked to save money to move to San Antonio. Here they would later build their
home. Juanita continued going to school and was able to accomplish more than
others ever did (earning an education). In 1963, Juanita graduated from Edgewood
High School located in the poorest side of San Antonio, the West side. Three years
later, Juanita married Gilbert Palomo. Two days after their wedding, they moved
to Los Angeles, California. While living here for 12 years, Juanita bore two
children. In 1979, The Palomo family moved back to San Antonio where they still
reside. Today, Juanita is a grandmother of three beautiful boys and
has been able to help keep her family growing closer and for the last 18 years Juanita has been employed as a senior sales assistant for RBC Dain
Rauscher, a financial investment firm. She is proud of her accomplishments
and wishes to keep spending more healthful years with her grandchildren. Juanita
enjoys attending her church every Sunday, cooking, and sometimes sewing. Juanita
said she got these traits from her mother. As a new member to the
Palomo family, I feel that it is my honor and duty to discover the history of my
mother-in-law.
At what age did you start working?
What was your job like?
Well...at 12 years old I started picking cotton with my family, I
also was a waitress in high school at the Original Manhattan Restaurant owed by
The Anthony's, not the Mexican Manhattan downtown, and when I lived in Las
Angeles, California I worked the switchboard and I was also an order operator
(I think that's what we were called) I was 23 years old.
Since big business was merging, I easily got a job working as a
utility clerk for a brokerage firms, enabling me to cover most positions.
Brokers would write order tickets then I would pin them to a wire conveyer belt
where they would go directly to the trading order desk. I also worked the switchboard, this was different, it was like answering the phone except we would have
to plug in wires to extensions as requested by caller. I first started working
for Bank of America, then Glore Forgan, Dempsey Tegelar
Did you have to get a job to help support your family?
(laughed) Yeah! All of us picked cotton. We had to help save money to
build our own house. My daddy actually built our home, he taught himself how to
to things like that.
Where did you all pick cotton?
We traveled alot, we picked in Plainview, Lubbock, Lampasas, and even
in Hobbs, New Mexico; we would get there by a truck. Daddy was a crew leader so
we would drive families to the farms. Housing was provided, we migrated most of
West Texas. But housing wasn't great, we would stay in barns with dirt floors.
However, it was fun; we would meet new people the majority of the people were
all family.
Describe a typical day on the job?
When we picked cotton, we had to wake up very early, we worked 'til
noon then after a lunch break we went back to picking 'til the evening. Working in
the office was like nowadays, we worked from 8-5, I remember assisting in the
trading room as a utility clerk. I was able to cover most positions in the
building like answering phones.
Did you work and go to school at the same time?
After cotton season was over, we would go back to our home in Taylor
and if we arrived in time we were able to start in the middle of the year. You
know like we would start in the middle of a semester. The smaller children that
didn't help in the fields would go to school wherever we were at.
What was school like?
Like I said we traveled so much so it was hard due to crop seasons,
but we managed! There were mostly whites in school, but in Taylor people knew
each other, a lot of people knew daddy and they respected him. There was no
prejudice.
What was the highest grade level achieved?
Twelfth, graduation! Somehow my sister and I were able to help each
other out and we graduated together.
Did you go to school here in San Antonio, if so where?
In 1949, we moved here to San Antonio. I went to school in the
West Side and in high school I went to Edgewood; that's where I graduated from. I
believe Edgewood no longer exists.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
My daddy would build us kids a stage in the back yard and we would
perform. We would tear off roses from mom's plants and throw them around just
like the way singers and actors would when they were on stage. I also remember
we would walk home from school and we would stop at this creek and eat "morus."
We would go home with our faces and clothes stained with purplish or reddish
color from the berries, momma would get so mad! We also enjoyed playing cowboys
and Indians. My best memory would be when Dad would sit us altogether in our
living room to discuss future family financial plans; he always wanted us to be
informed of family decisions, since we all worked as a united family.
For us in the West Side, we go to this place called The Comet and
Ray's (these were hamburger places). When I was older we were able to go to the
Malt House. Grandpa would hang out at Gyros with all the rowdies, that wasn't my
crowd.
If you could, what would you change from your past?
(silent for awhile) I feel blessed, being able to go through different
changes. I got to travel, got to see how we as a family have progressed, how
things have changed. It's amazing how things have changed. It's different with
all this new technology. Our generation has come a long ways!"
Do you wish to add anything else?
I'm just proud that I was able to earn a high school education. I
believe that if anyone sets their mind to showing off their God given talents,
they will be able to accomplish anything in their life!
Would you have gone to college?
Again if there was any hint or more awareness of college, yes. I
wanted to be a teacher. We weren't aware of continuing education and teachers
never pushed students into going to college. I'm pretty sure there was help just
like you all have know except no one ever informed us about it. Anyhow, I did
take a few classes at A.I.B. (American Institute of Banking) to help better
myself in the financial business.
"Morus"- This site gives a definition of what a morus is. Also tells how and where mulberry trees grow.
Lampasas- This site shows the town of Lampasas, this was a place where my mother-in-law and her family would pick cotton.
Lateef- Lateef is a financial invest company take took over the later business of Dempesy Tegelar. This was just one of the businesses Juanita worked at in the early 1970's.
By doing this interview, I was able to learn a great deal of information
about my mother-in-law. Now that I have gained this knowledge, I plan to
share these stories with my children.
I learned about the kind of life my mother-in-law and her family had. I
never realized their struggles or even that they were migrant workers.
I think that the benefits of learning history from someone who personally
experienced it is a great way of putting facts altogether. However, I learned
that one's history is more important.
Overall, I would definitely say that this was a true learning experience.
What a better way to learn your family history? Before this I guess I can say
that I wasn't too interested in learning my family history. However, I'm glad
I got this opportunity to know her a bit better and at the end I've learned
what an incredible woman my mother-in-law is. She is so strong and uplifting. I
will always cherish her for her great accomplishments. One thing I want to
say about my mother-in-law is that her role/job as a wonderful mother will
never vanish. Here's to you mom, I hope we get to spend more and more
years with you!
Dain Rauscher
-This web site gives a brief history of RBC Dain Rauscher, this is a financial investment company.