Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 13, 1972 Page: 1 of 20
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RIO GRANDE
SERVING STARR COUNTY FOR SO YEARS
TPA AWARD WINNING NEWSPAPER
TEN CENTS
Vol. XXI No. 2« Thursday
July 13, I *>72
liio (.ramie City, Texas
Second in a series...people with a purpose...
Pope rides on 50 years of law
JOHN A. POPE JR.
Half-million approved
for new sewage facility
U.S. Senator John Tower told the Herald late Tuesday
afternoon that the Environmental Protection Agency
had awarded $407,710.00 to Rio Grande City.
The money according to Tower will be used strictly
for a new waste treatment facility, interceptors and im-
provements to lift stations.
"We're glad that the money has been approved for
the new sewage facility, I'm sure it will just be a mat-
ter of time before we begin construction," Arnoldo
Gonzalez said. Gonzalez is the manager for the dis-
trict that controls the sewage facility.
Gonzalez named director
Arnold F. Gonzalez, general-
manager, Starr County WCI1)
#2, has been named to direct
the water pollution control and
abatement program required by
S.n. 835 which orders cities of
5,000 population or more to es-
tablish such programs on a lo-
cal basis.
Administered by the Texas
Water Quality Board, local pro-
grams have been established in
the 217 Texas cities to which
the law applies. Meetings with
city officials were held by TW
QB officials earlier in the year
and additional conferences are
being scheduled during Julyand
August to answer questions and
provide whatever help the cities
need in handling their programs.
Tom Kelly of the TWQB will
conduct the meetings for which
dates will be announced.
Cooperating in scheduling the
conferences will be 24 Councils
of Government within which all
by RAUL TREJO
HERALD MANAGING EDITOR
It was fifty years ago Tues-
day that Rio Grande City's ver-
sion of the 'store-front' law-
yer opened his practice of law
... he was a tough man, the war
made him that way, he was ded-
icated man, ambition made him
that way and he is a man, the
world made him that way . . .
John Pope Jr.
Law and it's practice is not
something one takes lightly but
when a man like John Pope Jr.
steps in front of a judge to
practice law and plead for a
client, he commands respect
for that law and respect for
himself from his peers.
When you're in the business
of law I imagine one finds it
tough, complex and sometimes
demoralizing . . . but the man
who stands six foot plus has it
in his blood, for his forefathers
were practioners of what has
become a love and a life for
John Pope Jr.
Pope was born to John A.
Pope and Josefine Drake in
Beaumont, Texas some 75 years
ago come September 23. Pope
Sr. was also a tough hombre
and he too was a lawyer.
Pope Jr., found his fathers
career rewarding, demanding,
and he wanted part of the ac-
tion. Pope who only went to the
eighth grade in school studied
nights to obtain his law degree
and the right to practice it be-
fore some learned judge.
Pope a long time resident of
Rio Grande City was called to
active duty when objecting to
military service was a 'get-
shot-in-front-of-the-city hall'
type of offense, not that Pope
would have objected because he
loved the tough life. He was
called with Company C of the
Third Infantry of Texas for
border duty in 1916. A world
war was going on at the time
called World War I and Pope w as
caught up in the middle of it
when his company was sent to
France to carry on the task of
keeping the world free. In 1919
Pope was discharged from mil-
itary service and returned to
Laredo where his parents had
moved and where his father had
a law practice going. Pope's
older brother Bismark was a
partner in the firm and John
Jr. soon began his studies in
what he hoped would take him
to the ultimate goal of obtain-
ing the right to practice as his
father did . . . after long hard
hours of studies under his bro-
ther and long Indicated sacri-
fice of himself Pope reached the
state board finals and made a
mark that earned him the res-
pect of many college-prepared
students ... at the end, his
right to practice.
On October 10,192G Pope mar-
ried Raquel Valle whom he met
while working in Rio Grande
City.
Presently the couple have
three children, John Pope III,
an attorney, Mrs. Mark (Dolly)
Olson, his legal secretary, and
Billy a government teacher for
the Rio Grande City School Dis-
trict. Dolly and her husband
Mark have provided Pope with
two grandchildren and Billy and
his wife Rosario have given him
two grandchildren.
Pope was a captain when he
served in World War II.
In service to Starr County
Pope served as County Attor-
ney from 1925 to 1930 and left
the job to be mayor of Rio
Grande City in 1930 and then
returned to the county attor-
ney's job only to resign to go
into private practice.
In 1930 Pope remembers that
Lauro Garza was county judge,
H.P. Guerra Jr., Martin Cana-
les, Ed Montalvo and J.M. Long-
oria were commissioners.
Pope saw the time when Fort
Ringgold was occupied by sol-
diers and even saw the day when
the soldier finally left Rio
Grande City.
Pope is a stern man, believes
deeply and is a man of few
words . . ,'T believe it's a
mistake to do away with the
death penalty", Pope says. "My
reasons are obvious, if you do
away with the only deterent you
invite crime" . . . Pope adds.
Another of Pope's sore spots
is the "give-away programs"
he says. "I believe that a man
should work for his bread and I
don't believe that a man can't
find a decent job because to me
any job is decent," he said.
Pope says that he has always
dealt with people fairly and
honestly and that this has been
one of the objectives of the firm
of Pope and Pope. This time
the firm of Pope and Pope is
with his son. A fact of which
he is obviously proud because
he too, like his son John III,
practiced with his father before
he died. John III, like his father,
is presently the county attor-
ney.
Since his "boy'is county attor-
ney Pope Jr. has had to face
him in opposite sides of the
court battlefield and if one was
keeping score the count would
be about even . . .
Asked about Rio Grande City
and Starr County Pope says that
the only reason that he lives
(See POPE, Page 3)
of the 217 cities are represent-
ed.
SB 835 directs cities within
the specified population range
to perform pollution control
functions, develop an inventory
of waste dischargers, monitor
all significant discharges, col-
lect samples and conduct peri-
odic inspections, and to use le-
gal enforcement when neces-
sary.
shop locally
it s the only
way to help our
own economy...
CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN — The signing of a contract between Eladio Carrera and offi-
cials of Medina Electric Cooperative put the go-ahead light on construction of a new office
building and warehouse facilities to be located on Farm Road 755 just north of the H and
H Drive in theatre. The building which will be build on a completely paved tract of land
will have some four-thousand square feet of working space. Pictured above are Bud
Gwartnez of Medina Electric Cooperative, standing are Narciso (Junior) Cantu, local
manager and Carrera. (Herald photo)
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Trejo, Raul. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 13, 1972, newspaper, July 13, 1972; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194363/m1/1/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.