Tribute to Trini

My Day by

Dr. J. Ester Davis

Trinidad ‘Trini’ Garza changed addresses last month. I was flooded and grateful for the memories.  Trini was born September 22, 1931.  He had a beautiful family and deep respect from all cultures in and around the Trinity River,  the state and our nation.  His long distinguished career in business was followed with another full decorated life making a difference… with all the trimmings. Trini was a grand collaborative leader.  He never sat down.  He was in demand and his plate was always full.   His heart and soul was grounded in education and you only had to talk to him a few minutes to realize that fact.   The Middle College High School at Mountain View College in Southern Dallas carries his name.

There is too little said about true community leaders.  There is too little said about these icons spending endless unselfish  hours… for decades bridging-the-gaps and covering the ‘pot holes’ in our communities’.  There is equally too little said about these ‘smooth operators’ who are flawless at crossing lines, communication styles, finishing the fight with a smile and a handshake and moving on in the same zip code.

I met Trinidad ‘Trini’ Garza decades ago. Our paths were always crossing. As the Texas AARP Communication Leader for four(4)years, I saw his name a lot.  I know he served with distinction as a member of the Dallas Commission on Aging, I think. I interviewed the sitting Chair because I was a host for Dallas Community Television(DCTV) at that time.  Following that ‘duty’ Trini and another friend of mine were together as Texas Silver Haired Legislators in and out of Austin.  And then all of a sudden, I term out with AARP.  I am asked and appointed Chair of Senior Affairs Commission by Mayor Laura Miller. This appointment came with a set of instructions centered around Seniors becoming more involved, active with more services.  Trini is appointed to serve on an adjacent commission.  I knew him fairly well by this time and I sincerely needed his guidance and connection to present myself, get in and around the Latino Community.   I had all these ideas that were destined to come into vogue, but I had limited knowledge about the Latino communities, and of course my Spanish was barely there.  I needed a well-spoken guide, someone everybody knew,  a major influencer. And …. there he was!   At this time in our city’s history, the City of Dallas Senior Affairs Commissioners hosted a grand midday luncheon called “Mayfair” celebrating Seniors during the month of May.   We had a budget, corporate sponsors (Ebby Holliday herself) for several years), a speaker, a dance floor with the Dallas Tap Dazzlers and the ‘Red Hat Society’ welcoming in a guest list of several thousand at Reunion Arena. In cooperation with Time Warner Cable, we were “the first” city board/commission to tape our meetings. We taped our meetings in the basement of the Dallas Public Library Downtown.  We chartered many worthwhile senior programs, but I think our most meaningful accomplishment was pounding out and rounding out the budget for buses with drivers to carry seniors to and from Parkland Hospital for their appointments. This was all before DART got their ‘act’ together.  Dallas City Council approved it and we started with two zip codes. We worked tirelessly on property taxes which was “word salad” in its finest form.  We almost got the “playground for Seniors” after reporting to City Council the cost, the research and data from other cities and our proposed playground areas.

As Chair, I termed out after eight(8)years.  Mike Rawlings is elected mayor and asked me to stay on serving until he appointed my replacement.  Guess who was appointed?  Of course!  Trinidad Garza.

The key word in this article about Trini, is his wealth-of-knowledge that he willingly shared in and around our accomplished city. Building a world class city and “making-a-difference” starts with one person-at-time…spending time on a cause.

Esterdavis2000@gmail.com