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HARLINGEN — Family and friends are remembering former Mayor Connie de la Garza as a loving father and consummate businessman who helped shape Harlingen politics while building the city’s business sector and medical complex.
De la Garza died Wednesday in his home.
He was 81.
Born in Raymondville, de la Garza took a job as Harlingen’s first Hispanic tax assessor-collector.
While he was working in Pharr, Harlingen Mayor George Young called him with a job offer.
“He said, ‘Young man, don’t you know we have a position open of tax assessor/collector, the head man?’” de la Garza recalled in an interview in January 2023. “I said, ‘yes sir.’”
“Then why haven’t you applied for it?” Young asked.
“For three reasons,” de la Garza recalled. “No. 1, I’m 24 years old. No. 2, I’m Hispanic, and No. 3, Harlingen doesn’t have a single Hispanic department head. And when I was a kid if I came to Harlingen, I couldn’t sit in the regular first floor of the theaters, I had to sit in the balcony. I was Hispanic. That was back in the 50s, OK. But it had the reputation.”
The next day, de la Garza got the job.
After serving as a city commissioner in the mid 1970s, de la Garza won the mayor’s gavel in 1998, serving until 2004.
A real estate broker, he was the longtime owner of Bahnman Realty, drawing many businesses including Target and Harlingen Corners, where Kohl’s, Marshalls and Burlington help anchor the strip mall.
More than 50 years ago, de la Garza bought stake into the business, where founder Bonnie Bahnman was a mentor.
“He’s the one who taught me you’ll never get in trouble, Connie, if everything you do is morally, legally and ethically correct,” de la Garza said in an interview in January 2023. “And that’s been my motto ever since. And it works. It worked.”
During his mayoral administration, he helped bring the Regional Academic Health Center to town, laying the foundation of the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley’s School of Medicine.
“He was there at a very critical time when we trying to develop the medical community in Harlingen,” attorney Randy Whittington, a former mayor, said.
On the state level, de la Garza pushed to open Interstate 69, the Rio Grande Valley’s first interstate highway.
De la Garza left behind four children.
“My dad was incredibly passionate about his love for the city of Harlingen,” his son, Roddy de la Garza, a real estate broker in Palm Springs, California, said. “He loved seeing the city grow and truly believed it was the very best city to live and raise a family. He also loved promoting equitable access to real estate and the real estate industry.”
His son remembered De la Garza as a loving father and family man.
“He loved going to his church with his grandchildren,” he said. “My dad was the kind of father who got up at 6 a.m. every Saturday to drive me to academic competitions. I remember he’d get out of the car and thank every teacher by name who was there to take my class to debate and speech competitions.”
After a hard day, de la Garza liked to read history.
“He was an avid reader and would make a deal with me that every time I read a book he’d take me to get another one at the public library or Waldenbooks,” his son said. “He would discuss the daily contents of the Wall Street Journal or Valley Morning Star with me after school like I was an equal and encouraged my opinions. He knew that education and awareness of my local community were the basics of being a good citizen.”
Across the city, de la Garza’s death stunned friends.
“I’m shocked and saddened,” past Mayor Chris Boswell said. “He was a great friend and a great mentor. “It’s a really big loss to me personally and to the community and business community.”
For decades, de la Garza dedicated most of his life to building the city.
“Nobody was more of champion for Harlingen than Connie de la Garza,” Boswell, who served as a city commissioner during de la Garza’s administration, said. “He was always trying to grow the community and bring business to the community. He was instrumental in bringing a number of different companies to Harlingen.”
At the state level, de la Garza served on former Gov. Rick Perry’s inaugural committee, Boswell recalled.
“He was well known in political circles throughout the state of Texas,” he said.
On an international level, de la Garza climbed to the top of the ranks of Lion’s Club International, serving an an international trustee.
“He loved the Lion’s Club and being a part of a community,” Roddy de la Garza said.
In his sharp black suits and dressy cowboy boots, de la Garza’s folksy style presided over an early morning “breakfast club” made up of top city leaders.
“He was an amazing guy,” Jay Meade, who served as a city commissioner under de la Garza’s administration, said.
“He knew everything that was going on in the city — he knew the projects, when they started, when they’re completed,” he said. “He was on top of everything.”
