Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning: The Galloping Scot, Author, World Traveler and tour operator to Copper Canyon, Mexico.
Story and photographs by Jim Glendinning
GILBERT VALENZUELA
Gilbert Valenzuela was born in
San Antonio in 1950 to Mary and
Lorenzo Valenzuela, a teacher who
later was employed at Kelly Air Force
Base in San Antonio. Gilbert was the
second of four brothers, preceded by
Lorenzo Jr. and followed by Gerald
and Arnold, both now deceased.
He has good memories of St. Mary
Magdalene Parochial School in San
Antonio and remembers all his teach-
ers. He loved fishing in the river at his
grandmother’s house in the King
William District. He had a happy
childhood.
Valenzuela’s parents divorced
when he was 12. Plans to go to film
school in California were shelved. He
felt a responsibility for his mother. At
the suggestion of his father, who was
born in Marathon, he enrolled at
SRSU in fall 1969.
He spent eight years at SRSU,
insisting on paying his way, which
necessitated taking a variety of local
jobs, including one as park ranger at
Big Bend National Park. He graduat-
ed in 1978 with a BA (Art) and a
minor in Biology.
He reluctantly interviewed with
SW Bell and was one of three persons
out of 200 to be offered a job. On the
advice of his father he accepted. For
31 years he fixed telephone problems
in the Alpine area, becoming well
known for his cheerfulness and his
attention to detail with phone repairs.
After completing his contract with
SW Bell, Valenzuela – always keen to
get involved with the community –
got elected to the Board of the Alpine
Chamber of Commerce, to the Board
of the Catholic Church and to the
Lions Club, where he still serves.
Always, he arrived with enthusiasm
and a desire to do some good. When
14
Cenizo
GILBERT VALENZUELA
Alpine
the Justice of the Peace job became
vacant, he got elected.
Justice of the Peace is a full-time
job requiring training and involving
regular liaising with government
agencies
and
local
lawyers.
Responsibilities include writing arrest
warrants, conducting an inquest fol-
lowing a death, setting bonds and pre-
siding at Justice Courts (about four
times monthly).
Valenzuela relishes the job since it
takes him closer to people, many of
whom are miscreants. He sees a posi-
tive side to most things and believes
that the tranquility of our desert and
mountain terrain has a beneficial
effect. “It’s been a wonderful experi-
ence,” he says.
In 2014 Valenzuela, a Spanish
speaker, met Pilar Pedersen of Alpine,
who ran a project fixing up a run-
down Tarahumara school in
Fourth Quarter 2017
MATT WALTER
Alpine
Chihuahua. Valenzuela pitched in
with his handyman skills and, with a
team of competent Big Bend volun-
teers, put in seven new roofs, toilets
and windows. The work is hugely sat-
isfying to him.
Valenzuela
married
Karen
Johnson from Fort Worth in Elido,
TX in 1985. They live in Sunny Glen
where Karen is working on a book.
Valenzuela plays harmonica and gui-
tar and enjoys a good party. Ever the
adventurer, he recently flew in a sin-
gle engine prop plane from Texas to
Peru, acting as interpreter and surviv-
ing some scary moments. He loved it.
MATT WALTER
Matt Walter was born on July 22,
1952 in Pittsburgh, PA. The birth was
unexpectedly early while his parents,
Ned and Beverly Walter, were on a
visit to Pittsburgh from their home in
BRIT WEBB
Marfa
Galveston, TX. He was followed by
three sisters and a brother.
His parents were Methodist mis-
sionary teachers and Walters’ child-
hood years, seven through 17, were
spent in the southern Brazilian city of
Passo Fundo where they were serving.
He spoke Portuguese at the local
school in Passo Fundo, and at home
he spoke English. He developed an
early interest in history and geogra-
phy and fell in love with travelling,
not only in Brazil but on summer
road trips in the USA.
In 1968 Walter hurriedly left Brazil
to avoid being drafted. He moved to
his grandparents’ dairy farm in
upstate New York while he finished
high school. He tried one year at col-
lege but quit and then apprenticed as
a carpenter. Now 23 years old,
prompted by a desire to be on the
move in a working job, he enlisted in