Leonel Jabier Castillo (June 9, 1939 – November 4, 2013), nickname “Lone”,[1] was born in Victoria, Texas.
For Castillo’s family that meant it was easy to find a job in the shipyard, where his father worked hard for 30 years.
With his father being involved in a union, all four siblings grew up in a home with different political views and became activists and organizers.
Castillo was a very quiet kid growing up, but it didn't stop him from becoming the head leader of many political groups.
He grew up working in the docks with his father and friends, who looked after him from the time he was a very small kid with big glasses.
Dr. Billy Crane was his government professor, along with Brother Luis Schuster, S.M., who encouraged Castillo as an English honors student.
Shortly after graduating from St. Mary’s in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in English, Castillo packed up the little belongings he had and hitchhiked to New York.
Castillo was involved with a group called the United Negro Protest Committee (UNPC)[5] where he learned about demonstrations, marches and pickets.
When Castillo was done with school in Pittsburgh, he had a master's degree in Community Organization, and decided to move back to Texas where he lived in Houston to learn more about his own culture.
He left the Ripley House to work with the Bishop and at the same time attend law school at the University of Houston.
The 1969 school boycott where a group of Mexican Americans formed a loose confederation called the Mexican-American Education Council (MAEC).
[11] In 1979, he resigned from the immigration services and went back to Houston to run against mayor, Jim McConn, finishing third out of nine candidates.