Celebration of life set for El Paso civil rights leader, ex-Thomason CEO Pete T. Duarte
Pete T. Duarte, who died Feb. 4, is being remembered as an El Paso icon, community leader and activist.
Duarte, 84, was CEO of Thomason Hospital, before it became University Medical Center of El Paso, for 14 years.
A celebration of life is being planned for March 25 at the El Paso Community College Administrative Services Center, downstairs in Building B, at 9050 Viscount Blvd. Doors open at 1 p.m.
Duarte was the last of eight children born to migrant California farmworkers Eduardo Simon and Maria Jesus Duarte, according to his obituary.
He rose from picking crops as a youngster to being the first in his extended family to graduate from college, then went on to lead the El Paso County hospital. He was a graduate of California State College, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the Harvard University Hispanic Health Leadership Program.
However, he always was a civil rights advocate and united community leaders on several initiatives. One of them was establishing the Father Rahm Social Service and Referral Organization, which in the early '70s became Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe Inc. He served as La Fe's executive director for 12 years.
He also led Project Upward Bound at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he helped establish Chicano studies, according to his obituary.
“Pete has always been a light in my life, both professionally and personally. I first met Pete in the late '60s when I was a student nurse," said Andrea Uribe-Sanders, a retired nurse practitioner living in El Paso. "I worked as a community organizer and had the opportunity to work with Pete and others as the groundwork for La Fe clinic was laid out. His tireless efforts, enthusiasm and creativity in organizing the community around a much-needed clinic was amazing to watch and learn from. Pete helped many people in many ways and has been a great influence in El Paso and beyond."
In the early '90s, Duarte became the CEO of Thomason Hospital. He preferred the title "Chief Servant" because, he wrote, "my role models and heroes were all Servants – Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, our first Chicana County Judge for El Paso County (Alicia Chacon), my parents and Cesar Chavez.
His widow Irma said they shared many things, from a devotion to family to an adventurous spirit and love of travel and the El Paso community.
"I have for years witnessed the many people who would reach out to him by stopping by to see him, sending emails or text messages and by coming up to him when they spotted him out and about," she wrote in an email. "I know that this type of genuine affinity is rare, and I do not take for granted its significance. I will miss my husband, of course, but I know that his legacy of activism, respect for others and unabating passion for the El Paso community will live on."
During his tenure, Thomason was twice named among America's Top 100 Hospitals.
He also earned awards and accolades, including UTEP's Golden Nugget Award and the naming of the Pete Duarte Head Start.
He was preceded in death by his first wife Joy Hudson Duarte and eldest son Eduardo Duarte Alegría.
Pete Duarte is survived by his widow Irma and her children Rebecca and Joey, his son Pedro Duarte, daughters Marean Duarte and Lilia Jones, daughter-in-law Rowena Alegría, goddaughter Celestia Alvarado, 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks people to donate time, energy and resources to their favorite social justice effort.
María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150, mcortes@elpasotimes.com and @EPTMaria on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Celebration of life set for El Paso civil rights leader Pete T. Duarte
