From MYSA.com:
Throughout his career as a lawyer, civic volunteer and state representative, Leo Alvarado was perhaps most proud of being a father.
Alvarado, 70, who served in the state House from 1992 to 2000, died Friday of esophageal cancer.
“We have so many wonderful memories that he had given us,” said Rosemarie Alvarado-Hawkins, a daughter who also practiced law with him. “He took us all over the United States and Mexico. … He was very big on making sure we knew who our ancestors were and where we came from.”
Before he served in the Legislature, he gained local visibility as vice chairman of the Bexar County Hospital District board. He also was a director of the Mexican American Unity Council, among other organizations.
Alvarado, a San Antonio native, grew up on the West Side and attended parochial schools before graduating from Jefferson High School in 1958.
From there, he enlisted in the Air Force. After his service, he attended St. Mary’s University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and accounting. He stayed at St. Mary’s for law school and graduated in 1974.
As an attorney and activist, he worked in various community organizations before joining the board of the hospital district, now the University Health System. In his role on the hospital board, he worked on the purchase of the then-closed Lutheran General Hospital to reopen it to serve downtown. That facility later was razed, and in its place on Zarzamora Street sits the Texas Diabetes Institute.
In 1992, he beat former City Councilman Joe Alderete for the state House seat, and kept it for eight years. In that time, he introduced legislation on high school education, a bill pertaining to redlining in the insurance industry, and many others.
“He was a great competitor and he was my friend, but most of all he was a great father,” said state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, who served in the state House with Alvarado. “His world revolved around his children, and that’s what made him special.”
Alvarado and Van de Putte both ran to succeed then-Sen. Gregory Luna and advanced to a runoff in late 1999, before Alvarado decided to withdraw from the race. A few months later, he lost a runoff election for his House seat to Trey Martinez Fischer, who still holds it.
“Leo had an impact on me in how I conducted my legislative service,” Fischer said. “I learned early on what it means to have principles, to be man of my word and to have honor, because those were the same traits my colleagues described in Leo.”
Born: April 23, 1939, in San Antonio
Died: June 5, 2009, in San Antonio
Military: Air Force, 1959-1961
Preceded by: A sister, Yolanda Marie Alvarado.
Survived by: A brother, Carlos Roberto Alvarado, of New Hope, Minn; his first wife, Gloria Acosta Farias, of Saltillo, Mexico, and their son, Dr. Leopoldo Alvarado Acosta III of Mexico City; his second wife, Charlene Jean Alvarado of San Antonio and their children Rosemarie Alvarado-Hawkins, Christina Lisa Alvarado Morales, Miguel Antonio Alvarado, Carlos Andrés Alvarado, all of San Antonio; and four grandchildren.
