jan 6, 1973 - Roberto Marin Awarded

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1973 Roberto Marin, president of the Mexican Civic Society of Morelos and owner of Marin’s La Fiesta restaurant, awarded by KCK mayors: Roberto Marin accomplished a life full of service and friends

Roberto Marin, arrived in the United States, from his native pueblo of Tangancicuaro, Michoacan, Mexico in the middle 30s. In 1973, at 37 years of age, the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Charles B. Wheeler, bestowed on him “honorary Citizenship of Kansas City, Missouri!” Five years later, at a banquet at the Crown Center Hotel, in 1978, the Morelos Society, named him “Man of the Year”. Roberto A. Marin, a Mexican born American Entrepreneur, who passed away early this week, was a dynamo of activity that some said, ‘knew no bounds’! He was once a busboy at the Muehlebach Hotel. For eleven years he toiled at Swift Packing House, just across the then 23rd street bridge on the Kansas side of the Kaw River. Don Roberto finally found himself working as a carman for the Santa Fe railroad. All these jobs set the stage for him to be able to travel with his sweetheart Delia, whom he met in the United States, then back to her home town of Uruapan, Michoacan, to marry her! Above all, Roberto Marin, was a restaurateur, establishing Marin’s La Fiesta restaurant on 26th street, in Kansas City, Kansas.

His deep association with his birthplace motivated the founding of the Morelos Society early in his career. He was no wallflower, involving himself in promoting Mexican cities to become Sister Cities for both Kansas Cities. Through the Morelos Society, he motivated expos, fairs, fiestas patrias, festivals and once, escorted more than 70 KCK residents to Uruapan, Mexico, to formally establish a Sister City connection with Kansas City, Kansas. This journey was in response to a visit from a delegation headed by Uruapan, Michoacan Mayor, who themselves visited KCK, making the Sister Cities program a huge success. To Don Marin, ‘I was not a Pocho.’ I did not have to explain my Chicanismo. After Vietnam, I was a Chicano activist at Penn Valley Community College and President of U.M.A.S. at UMKC., in the early 70’s, Chicanos and others like Roberto Marin, strived for equality and justice using conflicting strategies.” His actions involving relationship with Mexico were personified by his Sister City activities, which promoted cultural and social ties with Mexican cities with Anglo Saxon institutions. My agenda as a Chicano evolved around self-determination, education and learning about our Mestizaje Cultura. These goals brought us into conflict with the likes of Roberto, who was seen as a scene stealer, someone who could not get enough being around power brokers.

Source: BY JOSE "CHATO" GARCIA, Mexican American Historical Society of the Midlands

Gene will provide an article that gives more detail on Roberto Marin.

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