Ray Ruiz Rosas believed in giving back, and that’s the kind of life he lived.
Rosas was born in Amarillo in 1930. He served in the Army during the Korean War. He worked as a mail handlers, plumber, business owner, a nurse’s aide, and many other things, but he was always a volunteer.
Rosas was involved with the Boy Scouts, Big Brothers, Gold Sox Booster Club, the Amarillo Zoological Society, Los Barrios de Amarillo, the Alamo Neighborhood Center, Wesley Community Center, Las Fiestas de Amarillo, the Amarillo Housing Board, and the bilingual education board at West Texas A&M.
He was a member of American Legion Post 54 and worked with the Samson and Espinosa posts.
Rosas was nominated in 1969 for the VA National Public Service Award, received the Hispanic Heritage Month Award in 1991.
Rojas said the most rewarding work he did was as a nurse’s aide at the VA hospital.
“I retired as a plumber, but if I had a choice, I would have rather been with the patients,” Rosas said.
Ray Rosas passed away in 2002.
The rest of the story about Ray Ruiz Rosas is available from the Amarillo Globe-News.
