Mr. Edmundo " Eddie " Escobedo Sr.

The history of Eddie Escobedo

Edmundo “Eddie” Escobedo, publisher of the local Spanish newspaper El Mundo has experienced what the American dream is all about.

Eddie was born in Torreon, Mexico where he learned his English at the Elliot Academy, in 1951 he came to USA on a field trip and was totally surprised that the American girls understood his English and decided to come to live here, life was not easy then but he was able to survive working as pin boy, cook, dishwasher, and bartender before enlisting in the US Air Force, The Air Force brought Eddie to Nellis Air Base in Las Vegas where he performed duties in the sheet metal field, jet mechanics and as Parachute Rigger (He packed the parachutes of the world famous Thunderbirds).

After his Honorable Discharge he remained in Las Vegas and worked at the Dunes Hotel and since he was never satisfied with just one pay check he also worked as a salesman for Western Auto Store and he keep working two jobs for several years.

He was able to save some money and got involved in different business, he was a promoter bringing the top movie stars of the time as well as singers, dancers, performers of all arts, because of his activities in show business he open the movie theater “El Rancho” and here again he was so involved that he was nominated to be the President of Spanish Pictures Exhibitors Association, a group of 1000 movie theater owners across the nation and was elected to that position and reelected twice during that time he brought to Las Vegas the annual conventions and where held at the MGM now Bally’s and the conventions were the Spanish version of the Oscars of Hollywood fame and two of them were televised by SIN (Now Univision).

In 1980 Eddie and his son Eddie Jr. went one step further in the media industry by publishing a small newspaper called El Mundo, this weekly tabloid Spanish newspaper started with 16 pages and practically had to give away its advertising and prove its worth to the community and its advertisers, now twenty eight years later El Mundo with 98 to 108 pages and a circulation of close to 40,000 has become the voice of the Hispanics in Nevada.

Thanks to the success of El Mundo Eddie has been able to get involved in other fields, he and four of his older friends invested in a Spanish Radio station and sold it after a very good margin of profit, then he invested in real estate and here again did very well and in 1995 he decided to build a commercial center and in 1997 the Escobedo Professional Plaza was inaugurated with close to 100% occupancy.

Eddie has been very much involved with his community and he is the founder of the Mexican Patriotic Committee a 501 © (3) non profit tax exempt organization that meets most accountability standards set by the federal government and has presented over $150,000 in scholarships to Hispanic students and his organization is the organizing group of the Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence celebration and they have become the most well known festivals where the profits go back to the community and also the Christmas in the Barrio is an event where more then 3000 kids receive goodies and toys every Christmas.

He is also very involved in the political circles and has been a volunteer for some well known figures and presently he has been named to be a part of Senator Hillary Clinton on her Nevada committee on her presidential campaign, he takes part as a donor, volunteer and with his newspaper he has the power to support and endorse a candidate. After Obama was the democratic nominee Federico Peña the national vice chair of Obama’s campaign called Eddie and requested his participation in Obama’s campaign.

Eddie has received several awards from different levels, in 2001 he received the “Premio Othli” one of the highest awards given by the Mexican government, in 2003 he was named “Hispanic of the Month” by City of Las Vegas, in 2004 he was named “Hispanic of the Year” by the Latin Chamber of Commerce, in the same year he received ‘Gentleman of Excellence”, one of the highest awards given to community leaders and several more from community organizations and groups.

Ultimately, Eddie’s work ethic has provided a stable future for Hispanic written print, Hispanic media and the Hispanic community in Las Vegas.

In 2005 Clark County School District at the request of several hundred sympathizers, relatives and friends approved naming a school after him and in April 2008 the Edmundo “Eddie” Escobedo Middle School was inaugurated and is now in operation with close to thousand students…from dishwasher to a national presidency…Only in America !!!

THE AMERICAN DREAM COMES TRUE!!!

Eddie Escobedo is the living sample of what the American Dream is all about. Now at 77 he is retired and only works 15 hours a day!

Now it’s time to slow down and relax?

Or is it?

Only time will tell…

Eddie has been married to Maria for 50 years, they have four children

Edmundo Jr. Nicolas, Hilda and Victor, and 10 grandchildren.

Arrangements under the direction of Palm Downtown Funeral Home, Las Vegas, NV.