Raul Garcia Galindo

He was born in Cadereyta Jimenez N.L., Mexico on February 25, 1934. Raul was married to Beatrice Meza on May 10, 1959. He is survived by his wife Beatrice Galindo, his son Jose (Nancy) Galindo, and his grandson Michael (Sophie) Galindo.

Raul only went to school up until the 3rd grade, when his father passed away. He then began working to support his mother, brother, and two sisters. In his late teens, Raul began driving trucks, delivering the Coquina needed to build the highway for construction workers building the Falcon Dam. He also worked on an oil field in Mexico, maintaining valves that transported oil. He joined the Mexican Army Reservists in 1954, at the age of 20. On February 14th, 1956, Raul crossed the border at Brownsville, Texas. Raul attempted to join the U.S. Army but was denied because he did not know enough English. He went on to learn English from reading magazines.

Raul loved working on cars and with machine equipment. His supervisors noted that he was very good at repairing equipment and was a fast learner. He took over management of a Gulf gas station in the mid to late 60's at the corner of Canal and Wayside. In the mid 70's he began working at Reed Tool Company, making drilling bits for for gas and oil rigs. While there, he taught himself to operate all eight machines used. He was laid off from Reed in 1991 and began working at New Tech Rock Bit Company, also making and machining drill bits for oil and gas rigs. He would go on to retire from this company in 2000. While working at these companies he loved to show his family what he did. He was very proud of his work and loved showing off how the machine equipment worked.

As mentioned above, Raul had a passion for working on cars and loved to tinker with things. He could be found in his garage most days tinkering with either the car or some other mechanical device. He loved the way machines and devices worked. He liked to explore how things operated or read about how something worked. But of course, if he could figure out how it worked by himself, he was even happier. Once he would do that, he took even more pleasure telling others what he had found out. Something as simple as taking apart a lock was fascinating. Raul was also somewhat of an inventor. Or as Beatrice would say, a warranty voider. No one else could fix his home appliances like he could. He was the only one who knew how to do it. He would also “invent” little devices or contraptions to make his life a little easier.

Raul and Beatrice had their only son, Jose, on October 1st, 1960. In 1986 Raul's only grandson, Michael, was born. Raul enjoyed retirement. He would spend many hours outside helping Beatrice garden or spend his time in the garage. One thing they loved dong was driving. Anywhere. They were very active, and would spend many hours out driving the streets of Houston shopping, or just going to get something to eat. They loved going to Poppa Burger on North Main Street, ordering french fries, parking nearby and feeding the birds.

Anyone that knew Raul knows that he never let anything get him down. Something he would always say was that he just wanted to make people laugh. So whether it was appropriate or not, he would always tell a joke just to make you laugh.

Funeral arrangements are being held at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home. A visitation will be held from 4-8pm on February 2nd. The Funeral Service will be February 3rd at 10am.

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