The Cameron County Sheriff’s Department administrative headquarters on Old Alice Road in Olmito is now officially the Sheriff Omar Lucio Administration Building in a memorial tribute to the late lawman.
Lucio, a native of San Benito who served as sheriff from 1997 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2021, died on Jan. 17, 2022, at the age of 88. His widow, Nena, and other members of the Lucio family were on hand Monday for an official naming ceremony.
Also in attendance were dozens of officials and personnel from the county sheriff’s department but also from several other law enforcement agencies, including the Brownsville, Rio Hondo and San Benito police departments, Cameron County constables and parks police, the Willacy County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Border Patrol.
Likewise on hand were a number of elected county officials, with Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. serving as master of ceremonies. He thanked the family for “sharing” Lucio so that he could serve the community for so many years. Observing that Lucio lost reelection after first being elected sheriff in 1997, Trevino said he came back strong and finally won reelection in 2005 “at a time this department needed to reestablish itself.”
“And (Lucio) for 16 years did exactly that,” Trevino said. “He did it with honor and integrity and by reinstituting confidence in our sheriff’s department.”
He noted that Lucio graduated from the FBI National Academy — the oldest person to have done at the time, in 1999 — and even attended law school, Trevino said Lucio’s highest priority was ensuring his community and officers were well served and protected.
Taking her turn at the podium, Lucio’s daughter Patricia Lucio on behalf of her mother and siblings thanked Trevino and county commissioners for honoring her father in such a way, adding that he would have been deeply appreciative.
“He was a man of respect, integrity and honesty who truly loved his profession,” she said.
Former county commissioner Edna Tamayo said she and her husband had known the late sheriff and his wife for more than 60 years, first becoming acquainted when Lucio was coaching little league, and described him as “a credit to our human race.”
“I was proud to know Omar,” she said. “I was proud to call him a friend. I enjoyed working with him as county commissioner.”
Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz also spoke, pointing out that it was the sheriff himself who pushed for construction of a new department headquarters and said it’s fitting the building now bears his name. Saenz said he worked closely with Lucio for a decade and got to know him personally, adding that Lucio was less interested in titles and more in ordinary people.
“That’s who he was drawn to, and that’s who was drawn to him,” Saenz said.
Lucio always enjoyed a crowd, which is the reason the pair often ran late when traveling together, whether it was on the way to a meeting or a campaign stop, he said.
“We weren’t going to leave until Omar shook everybody’s hand,” Saenz said, eliciting laughter from the audience.
“He showed us that to be a great sheriff it’s not that you wear a big gun, because he didn’t wear one most of the time. … It’s not that you wear a big shiny badge, because he didn’t wear one most of the time. What he showed us was that to be a great person, to be a great sheriff, it’s what’s in here, what was in his heart. And Omar had a tremendous, tremendous heart,” Saenz said.
Precinct 4 County Commissioner Gus Ruiz recounted the advice Lucio gave him when he was first running for office — to be honest with people — and said the county “will forever be in debt” to the Lucio family.
Trevino, wrapping up the comments before workers climbed into a boom lift to unveil the new lettering on the front of the building, said “it was that sincerity, that good nature that people liked” about Lucio.
“People trusted him and it was important that they have trust, and he made sure that he never took it for granted,” Trevino said.
