Oscar M. Laurel

Oscar Manuel Laurel, Sr., (June 8, 1920 - March 29, 2001) (pronounced LAH RAIL) was an attorney, businessman, and Hispanic Democratic firebrand from Laredo, Texas, whose legendary oratory excited his party's faithful. "He had a great talent for words," said Hector Garcia, a former Laurel business partner. Vidal M. Trevino, late superintendent of the Laredo Independent School District, agreed. Trevino called Laurel "the best orator we have ever had." Laurel was one of five Laredoans to have served as president of the Hispanic interest group, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). He headed LULAC in 1955-1956.

Early life

Laurel was born in heavily Hispanic and Democratic Laredo, the seat of Webb County in south Texas just north of the Rio Grande. He graduated in 1937 from Martin High School, as did many of his city's future leaders at that time. He married the former Elsa Gonzalez, who was a descendant from one of the founders of Laredo. The couple had two children, Oscar Laurel, Jr. (born ca. 1954), and Elsa L. Nicholson (born ca. 1951) of Laredo, the former wife of Terry Lynn Nicholson (also born 1951) of Dallas.

Laurel graduated from the Catholic-affiliated Loyola University in New Orleans. He then entered the United States Army Air Corps, the forerunner to the Air Force, in which he served from 1941-1945. He was an airplane mechanic on B-17s and B29s and attained the rank of staff sergeant. After military service in World War II, Laurel enrolled in a pre-law curriculum at the University of Texas at Austin. He then completed his legal studies at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. He opened his law practice in Laredo in 1948.

Political career

Laurel launched his own political career in 1956, with election to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served two two-year terms from the 80th District. He joined Eligio "Kika" de la Garza (born 1927) of Hidalgo County as the only two Hispanics in the Texas House from 1957-1959. De la Garza, a future member of the United States House of Representatives, had been the only Mexican-American member in the preceding Texas legislative session. Laurel also served in the legislature with State Senators Abraham Kazen of Laredo and Henry Barbosa Gonzalez of San Antonio, two other future U.S. representatives. At the time, Kazen and Gonzalez received statewide attention for their successful filibusters against pending segregation bills. In the House, Laurel also opposed a bill that would have made cactus peyote an "unlawful dangerous substance". Vidal Trevino succeeded Laurel for a single term as representative in 1961.

In 1960, rather than seeking a third term in the legislature, Laurel was elected district attorney of Webb, Zapata, and Dimmit counties. He had already been a special investigator for the DA's office from 1952-1956. He was reelected in 1964 but left the position in 1967, when he accepted an appointment from U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to the National Transportation Safety Board. Laurel remained on the board through 1972, under Republican President Richard M. Nixon.

In 1973, Laurel was named executive director of the International Good Neighbor Council, a nonprofit organization founded in 1954 to promote goodwill and friendship between the United States and Mexico. The main council office is in Monterrey, Mexico. Laurel headed the organization until 1975; thereafter, he was the president of the council. He was also a former member of the National Advisory Council on Rural Poverty.

Personal life and death

Laurel was also a rancher and a banker. He and his son founded Falcon International Bank (formerly Falcon National Bank) in Laredo, one of the largest Hispanic-owned banks in the nation. He was affiliated with Rotary International and the Optimist Club, which he headed in Laredo from 1977-1978. He was a member of the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis.

Laurel died of a lingering illness in a Laredo hospital. A funeral mass was held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and interment followed in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Laredo. He is honored with his bust in the lobby of the Webb County Courthouse in Laredo, along with a later successor as district attorney, Charles R. Borchers.