Armando Valdez

Born in 1947 to Isabel and Luis Valdez, Armando was the second eldest of eight siblings. It was in high school that Armando discovered his two life long passions: education and the military. He earned a membership in the National Honor Society and joined the ROTC. After graduating from Lanier High School in 1965, Armando went on to join the Army, where he completed two tours in Vietnam. Later in life he returned to the Army as a reservist, serving 30 plus years and earning the rank of Master Sergeant.

Upon returning from Vietnam, he attended San Antonio College, earning his Associates Degree. It was then that he discovered his passion as a draftsman. Combining his early childhood love for bowling and his talent for drafting, he pursued a career at Columbia Industries. In 1992 he earned his B.A.A.S. in Occupational Education from Southwest Texas State University and began his second career as a English as a Second Language (ESL) and G.E.D. instructor. He taught for Region 20, SAISD, the City of San Antonio and Positive Solutions Charter School. In 2015 he graduated with his Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language from University of Texas San Antonio. In addition to his degree he earned State of Texas Teaching certifications in Special Education and Social Studies. He dreamed of pursuing a second Master's in Bilingual Education.

He is survived by his mother, Isabel; siblings, Yolanda Zepeda, Olivia Adendorff (Adriaan), Luis Valdez, David Valdez (JoAnn), Leonard Valdez, Richard Valdez and Gilbert Valdez; daughter, Alanna Taylor (Armon), and son, Gabriel Valdez; and his granddaughters, Kamila, Sariah and Aliyah Taylor and grandson, Alasdair Valdez.