Caprock Home Health founder Marciano Morales made difference in Lubbock, beyond
Marciano Morales was remembered as a servant leader who built a highly successful business and whose generosity impacted numerous causes in Lubbock and across West Texas.
Morales, founder of Caprock Home Health, died recently at age 86, leaving a legacy of people-centered relationships and meaningful local philanthropy.
“Marciano always put people, family, friends and community first,” Christy Martinez Garcia, Lubbock City Council member, said. “It was never about Marciano. It was always about sincerely being committed to fulfilling the needs of the community.”
He brought a can-do attitude to not only Caprock Home Health and its mission in the community but also to business and personal relationships.
“To make change, you have to think, ‘Let’s make it happen,”’ Morales said in a 2012 Avalanche-Journal story. “I just want to move forward. It will happen.”
Forward progress was indeed the story of his life.
Soon after moving from Missouri to Lubbock with wife Martha, he founded Caprock Home Health Services in 1983, which eventually became the largest Hispanic-owned health agency in the state, according to A-J archives. Morales steadily became actively involved in a number of local causes, committing time, money and resources to help them be successful.
“Marciano was very unifying,” said former district court judge and city attorney Sam Medina. “He had a way of bringing people together and making you feel part of that one group, whether it was doctors or lawyers or somebody else. He had a way of unifying people. He was an extremely giving person.”
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Organizations in which Morales was active included Lubbock Meals on Wheels, the UMC Children’s Network and the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, according to the A-J profile story. Throughout his life, Morales put others first, whether that was the growing Caprock Home Health employee base or those who were connected to the many organizations he assisted.
“One thing people don’t realize is Marciano would prepare breakfast for his employees every Friday,” Martinez Garcia said. “Even after he retired, he would go and prepare breakfast for them. He went above and beyond for the people he valued. He did a lot of little things for people, and those little things are what made him such a great man.”
In 2009, Morales went about establishing the Caprock Foundation, a philanthropic organization that expanded and amplified his generosity while ensuring local donations would support local agencies like the South Plains Food Bank and local initiatives like making outdoor fitness equipment available and accessible. Another foundation priority is education and providing scholarships to help young people attend college.
“He had a lot of vision,” Martinez Garcia said. “He believed in keeping local funds local to make an impact, and we’ve seen such a great impact on causes like autism and literacy and on and on and on. He was always humble about what he contributed, but he was joyful. He made you feel like you were significant, and all of us thrive in being valued by others. He was a visionary, and he had a big heart for people.”
Friends remembered Morales as an encourager of others as well as someone who wanted to see people realize their potential and do all he could to help them do so.
“He had a purpose,” Medina said. “It wasn’t just to bring people together. It was to bring people together to do things together. He was the kind who saw strength in numbers, and I think he was someone who tried to do the right thing for the right reasons.”
As the family’s business grew beyond Lubbock, so also did Morales’ influence and generosity toward others.
“We think Lubbock was the only place Marciano impacted,” Martinez Garcia said, “but his ripple effect was statewide. All of the cities where Caprock Home Health is located, their employees get breakfast. Caprock Foundation works to do things for other cities. His vision was not a short view; it was the long view. That’s evident in how he achieved so many projects with so many organizations.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Marciano Morales made difference in Lubbock, beyond
