Late Pueblo leader Ray Aguilera honored for civic involvement, leadership
A plaque honoring late Pueblo leader Ray Aguilera is the most recent addition to the distinguished Milton E. Proby Cultural Heritage Room at El Pomar Foundation's Penrose House in Colorado Springs.
Named after Colorado Springs civil rights leader Rev. Milton E. Proby, the heritage room documents contributions of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders in southern Colorado. Since 2006, El Pomar's Elevating Leadership Development (ELD) program has held annual induction ceremonies to posthumously honor one individual who embodied the ideals of civic involvement and leadership.
A ceremony for Aguilera, the 2023 inductee, was held on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Penrose House.
"I don't know that there's any inch of Pueblo that he didn't have an impact on, no matter what community it is, no matter what demographic," said Sandy Gutierrez, chief communications officer of Health Solutions.
Known to some as the "Mayor of Bessemer," Aguilera was the founder of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation and the Pueblo Poverty Foundation. He also served on Pueblo City Council for over a decade. With PHEF, he raised millions of dollars to help over 1,000 local high school students attend college. Even beyond his role as a councilman and founder of two private foundations, Aguilera was known to lend a helping hand.
During an induction video shown at Thursday night's ceremony, current city council member Dennis Flores recalled an instance in which a Pueblo woman's basement flooded.
"The water got into her basement and she called Ray," Flores said. "This lady said, 'I don't have a furnace now. It's been inundated with water.' He made about four phone calls and got the money, got the guy to install the furnace and got everything back (and) cleaned the house. It's not like (Aguilera) was doing this as part of the city. He was doing that personally."
Prior to being inducted into the Milton E. Proby Cultural Heritage Room, Aguilera received several local and national recognitions. He was the 1988 Latino Chamber of Commerce Member of the Year, 1994 Pueblo Citizen of the Year and 2007 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Advocate of the Year.
He also was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Pueblo Latino Chamber and an NAACP Pueblo Community Empowerment Award. Nine days after Aguilera's death on May 9, 2021, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis proclaimed May 18 "Ray Aguilera Day."
Aguilera is the sixth Puebloan to be inducted into the Milton E. Proby Cultural Heritage Room. Other Pueblo residents to be inducted include Eva R. Baca in 2010, Katharine Joyce Carpenter in 2011, Duane Mitsuo Takaki in 2012, James Ford Poole in 2013, Petra Gonzalez de McCulley in 2018.
Speakers at the Aug. 3 induction ceremony for Aguilera included Aguilera's daughter Andrea Hansen, Proby's son James, El Pomar President and CEO Kyle Hybl, ELD Program Officer Stella Hodgkins and ELD Latino Advisory Council Co-Chair Caroline Trani. The evening also included performances by Mariachi Lobos and Grupo Folklórico del Pueblo.
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Late Pueblo leader Ray Aguilera inducted into Milton E. Proby room
