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Family Album
Unity in the Community
| Festival of the Arts
2003 | Festival of the Arts 2004
| Hernandez | Luevanos
| Paiz | Díaz
| Garcia | Vargas
| Chris | Anonymous
| Jenny Mendez |
Marcos Bonafede
| Stella Afesumeh and
Toyeeb Fujah | Sarah
Khazem | Edward
Lesko | Intisar
Markus
Marcos Carrillo
 My
grandfather is Marcos Carrillo. My grandfather's name is Dionicio Paiz.At the age of about 9, a man named Dionicio Paiz took Marcos Carrillo,
the oldest of five children, from his family, from his mother Santos Avila
(his father Francisco Carrillo had died a year or two earlier). It was
during the time of the Mexican Revolution and Marcos served the soldiers
in his hometown of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico.
It is not known if Dionicio Paiz was friend or relative, or exactly why
he took Marcos from his family. It's believed Marcos' mother might have
sent him north to escape the Revolution. At that time, children served
with whatever army wanted them upon coming to town. Marcos was left in
the border town of Nuevo Laredo. While still a child, he crossed the border
on his own, paying his nickel and replying "Dionicio Paiz" when
asked his name.
Grandpa worked the cotton fields and the cotton gins, and met my grandmother,
Antonia Trevino, while both worked on Kings Ranch in Texas. They married
very young, living in San Antonio, Texas, and later moving to the small
town of Pearsall. Never having had an education, my grandfather taught
himself how to read and write Spanish, and as an adult learned to read
and write English. He opened several grocery stores and became a successful
businessman. His family, including 11 children, did not want for food
during the Depression. And he became an U.S. citizen.
 When
his daughter Santos (my Aunt Sandra) was in her twenties, she married a
long-time family friend, Eleuterio Pedro Juarez (my Uncle Pete). He had
served in the military and had later moved to Detroit to be closer to his
extended family (having lost his own parents as a child). After living here
for several years, he decided Sandra was the wife he wanted, and he returned
to Texas to marry her and bring her up here, where he had lots of work in
a booming auto capital as a carpenter. They had a son, Francisco (my cousin
Frank), who now works for the Federal government. Less than a decade later,
Sandra's brother Dennis (my father Dionicio Paiz, Jr.) brought his wife,
Hilda de la Garza, and three young children to Detroit, urged by his sister
and the call of work in a thriving automotive industry. He became a car
salesman, and had two more children. All five children still live in the
Detroit area with their families. The eldest of his kids now works for this
public television station.Through his children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, a part
of my grandfather will always live in Detroit.
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