Tino Trujillo

Fortino Pineda Trujillo, 82, known to friends and family as “Tino”, passed away on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. He was born on August 12, 1932, in Villa Victoria, Mexico, as the 11th of 13 children. He attended the University of Mexico City majoring in Economics and worked as a school teacher, federal tax collector, industry inspector, and economist for the government of Mexico before immigrating to the United States in 1952. He served in the United States Army and eventually became a partner at his first restaurant in Glendale, Calif. After moving to Plano, Texas, he opened his legendary restaurant, “Tino's Mexican Restaurant and Cantina” in 1976, when the population of Plano was just 43,000. In 1979, he married his wife, Janie Lanell Trujillo, and they co-owned the restaurant together until she left for Heaven on July 24, 2004.

Along with being known for the BEST Mexican Food in Plano, Trujillo also was one of the Founding Members of Collin College. He was elected to Place 7 on the college's first Board of Trustees in 1985. He won five elections for six-year terms before retiring last year after nearly 30 years of distinguished service to the college. He was integral in the formation and governance of the college district and served as a board officer in the roles of treasurer, secretary and vice chair. During his tenure, the college grew from 1,300 students on one campus to nearly 52,000 annually at seven sites.

Trujillo was reportedly the first person of Hispanic origin elected to public office in Collin County. His service to the community included the board of directors for the Collin College Foundation, Plano Rotary Club, Plano Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society, Dallas Restaurant Association and Compass Bank of Dallas as well as service with the Salvation Army of Collin County, Republican Men's Club of Plano, Craig Gilbert Foundation, Hendricks Academy of Honor and Plano Independent School District Advisory Committees for Foreign Language and Career Development. He also established the "Taste of Plano" food festival. For his contributions to the community, he was honored as Plano's Outstanding Citizen of the Year and Small Business Person of the Year as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration's Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year.

Tino truly cared about serving others and was proud to be an American citizen and to serve our country. He always extended a helping hand to others, and at his restaurant the most important thing to him was to speak to every single customer that would walk through the door. He wanted you to feel at home while you were there, and would remember your name and your kids’ names the next time you came in. Tino loved to sing at his restaurant, and especially enjoyed visiting with his family and friends while trying to get them to eat a pepper that “wasn’t hot”. He would smile big when he’d succeed with one of his fun pranks. Tino’s “restaurant family” was very important to him, and he even had employees that worked for him for over 30 years. All of his employees hold a HUGE place in his heart. Tino loved being a grandfather and was affectionately called “Grandpa”.

Tino is survived by his son Eric Trujillo and wife Patty; step-daughter Angela Garcia and husband Chris; step-son David Walker and wife Natalie; grandchildren Erica Trujillo, Cecelia Trujillo, Brittany Garcia, Brian Garcia, Travis Nys, and Trent Walker; his huge Restaurant Family and all of his Rotarian and Collin College friends. He was deeply loved by his family and friends and will be greatly missed.