SAN ANTONIO — To many in San Antonio, former Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez will be remembered as a trailblazer.
"He made a name for the Hispanics," said Elvira Encina, a 43-year-old housing referral counselor and lifelong resident of San Antonio. "He came up and said, 'We're here. We do exist, and we're smart, like any other culture, any other race.' "
Gonzalez, who retired in 1998 after 37 years on Capitol Hill, died Tuesday. He was 84.
Family members took him to Baptist Medical Center on Tuesday after he complained of feeling ill. The cause of death was not immediately determined.
The intensely proud congressman was derided at times for his unwillingness to work within the system, but San Antonio celebrated the unabashed populist as a defender of the downtrodden.
"It is a sad day, but I think we need to remember the contributions that my father made," said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, choking back tears. "He was so proud to represent this city."
The younger Gonzalez took his father's seat in Congress in 1998 and was re-elected this month.
Henry B. Gonzalez was born in San Antonio in 1916 to Mexican immigrants and rose from poverty through San Antonio College and St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio. He was a city councilman and state senator before being elected to Congress in 1961.
"He was a really important figure for our community," said Norma Cantu, an English professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. " 'Un abrecaminos,' you would say. Making way for others."
A Democrat, he served as chairman of the powerful House Banking Committee and dean of the Texas congressional delegation.
Gonzalez was credited with crafting tough savings and loan bailout legislation and helping expose the industry's 1980s excesses.
During his stint as banking chairman, Gonzalez opened investigations that led to the resignation of the government's chief thrift regulator and the conviction of S&L owner Charles Keating. Those hearings proved uncomfortable for Democrats, spotlighting four Democratic senators' ties to Keating.
Gonzalez also probed the Reagan and Bush administrations' friendly dealings with Iraq before the Gulf War. He unearthed evidence that U.S. agricultural credits and illegal loans were used to help Saddam Hussein build his war machine before the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
In 1994, he earned the Profile in Courage award from the John F. Kennedy Library for his investigations of the S&L industry and the Iraq scandal. The award was a special honor for Gonzalez, whose office was dotted with photos of President Kennedy.
Survivors include his wife, Bertha, and eight children.