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READ MORE: Laredo pets dressed in festive sweaters for Pawliday party Take those columns and arches out of there and spread it out,” Ramirez remembers. Originally, the committee thought this monument would be like many before it, with a horseman on a big pedestal, surrounded by columns and arches.īut architect Jaime Beeman looked at the plan and said, “Fellas, we’re not Romans. “In the governor’s office, there was a painting titled, ‘A Mexican Hut.’ When I went in there, I asked the governor, ‘Why do you have a Mexican hut? Why don’t you have a hacienda? Why don’t you have a charro with pride, upright on his horse?’ There was no answer,” Ramirez said, laughing. This $1.3 million project, executed in 2012 by Laredo artist Armando Hinojosa, depicts Mexican Americans as ranchers, cowboys, explorers and as family.īefore, no art at the Texas Capitol reflected Hispanics in a positive light, Ramirez said. “They needed somebody with the ability to raise money and somebody with a strong personality. He also championed the funding of the mariachi ensemble at the University of Texas Butler School of Music, instigated the Boys & Girls Club in Zapata, donated 100 acres of land for Zapata’s airport and more recently introduced turkey in the area, of which there are now over 400.īut his legacy will almost certainly remain tied to the Tejano Monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, for which he was a major proponent and primary fundraiser as one of the six members of the Tejano Monument Committee.

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Ramirez hopes to be remembered for his many contributions to Zapata and South Texas, especially in higher education, where he has created several endowments. Zapata’s brightest kids leave after high school and don’t come back, and there’s not much of a labor force to tap if a new industry were to invest in the area, he said. The first thing they have to admit is that brain drain is a real problem, the banker said. And without much economic stimulus, the quality of loans has deteriorated in this area, Ramirez said. Zapata does not have an international bridge like Laredo, Roma and Rio Grande City do, so there are few Mexican deposits at the bank here. in the main area, where once you had thriving businesses,” he said. In Zapata alone, I bet you that there are 200 empty buildings. “If you want a good sense of the depression, take a drive from Zapata to Hebbronville, Freer, San Diego and look at the dilapidated buildings in every town. The only source of income here is derived from government transfer payments - law enforcement, Health and Human services and education, Ramirez noted. Since 2014, the area’s once bustling oil and gas industry has more or less disappeared. Over the last 35 years, they grew to $570 million in deposits.īut rural South Texas is in a massive recession. They expected that the Zapata bank would grow to $50-$60 million, and make maybe $500,000 a year, Ramirez said.

Under the umbrella of this branch, Ramirez opened three IBCs in Rio Grande City and one in Roma, Hebbronville, Freer, Alice, Beeville and Kingsville. In 1983, Dennis Nixon, CEO and president of IBC Bank, offered Ramirez the job to open a branch in Zapata. But the daily commute to and from Zapata was hurting, he said. Ramirez went on to implement the banking program at the other LSU, Laredo State University, and then became a banker himself at Laredo National Bank. “But eventually home kept calling me,” he said. So he got his MBA, pursued a doctorate at the University of Tennessee, went on to become a professor of banking at Louisiana State University, where he stayed for five years. Ramirez started his career as an engineer but quickly discovered that it wasn’t what he wanted to do. It’s in his blood, he said - he’s been cattle roping since he was 10 years old, and he still gets up on horses, which he can maneuver with ease. Ramirez believes his big contribution will be mentoring the bank’s young leaders.Ī Zapata native, Ramirez is a cowboy at heart and in practice. His son, Ricardo Ramirez, will succeed him as president of the bank. And he still plans to come into the office every day. He will stay on as chairman of the board and maintain executive authority.