Celestino A. Zambrano

Celestino “Tino” A. Zambrano, age 74 was called to his eternal home, May 8, 2024. He was born and raised in Gregory, Texas. Looking back at his early years, he started picking cotton at the age of four. As a child in a migrant worker’s family, he would follow the crops from the Valley to the Panhandle six months a year during the growing season and then begin school in December.  He attended Gregory-Portland High school and knew that he wanted to go to college but did not know how he could accomplish it. 

He managed to enroll at Beeville County College under a federal program and obtained an AA degree there in 1970. In April 1970, he joined the Peace Corps and served 18 months in Peru as an agricultural expert. He was 20 years old. Tino came back to Washington, D.C. as a consultant and wrote proposals for future recruitment for the Peace Corps. He attended the University of Texas in 1972 and 1973 on a free scholarship earned in the Peace Corps, and graduated with a degree in Business Administration. 

He could not find a job in his field after graduation, so he decided in 1974 to run for Gregory city commissioner. Two years later, he became Mayor of Gregory and served for 10 consecutive years, after those years he stepped down to provide more time for his family.  However, the city of Gregory was also a big part of his heart and he did run again several times throughout the years to serve the city as a mayor and councilmember for a total of 22 years of his life committed to the citizens of Gregory. 

In the mid 1970's he started with DuPont as a plant technician in the operations field for about 12 years and moved on to work and retire from Occidental Chemical Corporation in 2011. He credited the knowledge and experience he gained working for industry as another tool to help him manage the city of Gregory. 

Tino’s relationship with God and his family were the most important things in his life. He married Noberta “Birdie” in 1973 and raised three children together, Kristi, Javier, and Jaime.  He was extremely proud of his children and the value placed on their education by each earning a college degree.  Tino and Birdie had recently celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary with a small gathering with their family and some of their closest friends. Tino cherished his family and understood that family did not always mean blood-related, he welcomed his granddaughter Savannah as one of his own. He was also a jokester, when his son-in-law Michael asked for Kristi’s hand in marriage, his response was “No…..you can’t take her hand you need to take all of her.” When Jaime married Cigdem, dad bonded with her over coffee. He always saw her as another daughter and she loved to spoil him. 

His latest pride and joy to the family was his grandson, Alexander. He spent countless moments with him and the time and laughter those two shared together will live in our hearts and memories. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Simon and Trinidad Zambrano, siblings Clemencia Avita and Jose Zambrano.  

He is survived by his wife Noberta “Birdie” and children, Kristina Zambrano (Michael Aleman), Javier Zambrano, Jaime (Cigdem) Zambrano and two grandchildren. His siblings, cousins, numerous nieces/nephews, great-nieces/great-nephews and the Hernandez family members. 

We would like to thank our family and friends for their prayers and support.  A special thank you to his doctors, especially Dr. Acuna and staff for their unwavering support in his care.