full-time study, paid for by the
state, which she completed in
1987 with a degree in business
administration.
In 1986 she married Juan
Calderon and had a son,
Alberto, the following year and
a daughter, Eva Maria, in 1991.
From 1988 to 1997 she lived at
home with her mother in
Ojinaga, working secretarial
jobs and bringing up her chil-
dren while waiting for her appli-
cation for permanent residency
in the United States to be
approved. When this happened,
she joined her husband, who
was already living in Alpine.
Life in Alpine was initially
difficult for Eva, principally
because she had no friends and
almost no English. She took a
course in English as a second
language at Sul Ross State
University and also enrolled in
the Big Bend Beauty School in
Alpine. As her English
improved, she found, as a natu-
rally communicative person
with a 100-watt smile, that she
loved talking with customers
and styling hair. She says, “I
loved to play with hair, especial-
ly doing coloring.”
After graduating, she imme-
diately found work in Alpine
beauty salons. Reflections, a hair
salon on Holland Avenue, was
for sale. Calderon rented the
space and in December 2001
opened with just one chair, a
table and a hair dryer. However,
her natural business sense and
her people skills soon attracted
customers, some of whom
remain with her more than 10
years later.
While working six days a
week, Calderon is also engaged
in church, civic and social activ-
ities. At our Lady of Peace
Catholic Church she is active as
a church lector and as hospitali-
ty and Eucharist minister at
retreats. She is a member of the
Alpine Ambassadors, of the
Republican Women’s Club and
the Pilot Club. She is an enthu-
siastic member of the belly
dancers group, which she
describes as “businesswomen
having fun.”
Calderon divorced in 2009.
She is hugely proud of her chil-
dren’s achievements. Her son
Alberto, now 24, is pursuing a
master’s degree at Sul Ross in
business studies, and daughter
Eva Maria, 20, is studying
graphic design at Austin
Community College.
“I love my job, enhancing
God’s beauty,” she says.
LARRY FRANCELL
Odessa, Texas immediately
after World War II was a decent
Texas Main Street city. It was
here that Lawrence John
Francell was born on Jan. 28,
1945. His father Earl had come
from Chicago to train at pilot
school at Midland Air Field,
stayed and become a business-
man. His mother Martha raised
three boys and one daughter,
two of whom still live in Odessa.
At Odessa High School he
loved history and was on the
swimming team. Graduating in
1963, he headed for Austin
College in Sherman, Texas, his
choice. At this private liberal arts
college he enjoyed small classes
and got to know his professors,
graduating with a B.A. in histo-
ry. He continued with graduate
studies at UT-Austin, graduat-
ing with an M.A. in history in
1969.
Meanwhile he had met Beth
Byerley of Fort Davis at nearby
Bloys Camp when they were
both teenagers and he was
working summers at Prude
Ranch. They married in 1967,
and their son, Jeff, was born in
1968. Today Jeff lives in Austin
and works for the Texas Nature
Conservancy. Beth runs her
landscaping business, Rebloom
Designs, in Fort Davis.
Larry looked for a job in the
museum field and started work
in 1973 as curator at the Wichita
Falls Museum and Art Gallery.
He became director after one
year and was there when the
fatal tornado struck on April 10,
1979. The roof was peeled
back, but the contents remained
safe.
At that time the Dallas
Museum of Art was expanding
to a new venue, and Francell got
the job as a project manager,
which later led to a position as
director of operations. Here he
gained unique experience, as he
oversaw moving the museum
collection to the new downtown
site where the museum opened
in 1985. This in turn led to a job
with Fine Arts Express of
Boston, the leading specialist in
the field of moving museum
artifacts, which opened a Dallas
office in 1985 with Francell as
partner.
From 1985 to 1999 Francell,
a man easily bored, was respon-
sible for moving museum works
of art, technically challenging
work. He loved the job, relishing
learning as he went along.
Perhaps a trained engineer
might have shied from some of
the unprecedented installation
challenges. “It was fun,” he says
today.
In 1999 he moved back to
Fort Davis and was hired as
director of the Museum of the
Big Bend, specifically to raise
money to move the collection
back its original home. Over a
five-year period beginning in
2002, a total of $4.5 million was
raised for the building restora-
tion and the new exhibits,
which, upon completion in
2007, earned three awards.
Francell retired as museum
director on Sept. 1, 2010. He
currently serves as a Jeff Davis
County commissioner, runs his
construction consultancy com-
pany and is working on the
manuscript of his third book,
about Robert Grierson, the sec-
ond son of Fort Davis’ com-
manding officer, Col. B.H.
Grierson. Asked about running
for county judge, Larry Francell
says jovially, “That’s too much
like a real job.”
!"#$%"&'()*+
!"#$%&'%()**$
+,-./01
2-3,342,5/6.
89#; <=>