wrote for his website<\/a>. \u201cThe struggles and hardships I endured ultimately became the catalysts for my decision to join the U.S. military, where I found a sense of purpose, discipline, and direction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nThis determination led to him becoming the first Hispanic officer appointed as Director of Selective Services and earning other high ranking government titles such as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The connections he made along the way led him to advocate for added recognition of the contributions of the Hispanic community. On Aug. 17, 1988 a law was enacted to expand National Hispanic Heritage Week into what is now celebrated as Hispanic Heritage Month, between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my father found a new path [asking] \u2018What about a month?\u2019\u201d Elaine Coronado said. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t like he did it all by himself. There was an army of people that you know were with him, behind him, to his side.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was the everyday actions always spoke loud about who her father was. The way he would always ask, \u201cDid you do your best?\u201d when talking to his children about their day. The way he would encourage honesty and accountability especially when acknowledging mistakes. He started every Sunday morning with Ranchera music and a Mexican breakfast, regardless of what part of the world he was stationed in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Gil Coronado surrounded by his family including wife Mary Helen Zepeda Coronado and his children, Elaine, Todd, Troy and Troup Coronado. Credit: Courtesy \/ Coronado Family<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up on military bases \u2026 in either Germany, Spain or Panama, depending on which Air Force base we were at. And it was all English speaking,\u201d Elaine Coronado said. \u201cBut on Sunday mornings he would always have Mariachi music and my mother would make tacos or huevos rancheros for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father spoke beautiful Spanish,\u201d she continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite growing up in a time when children were discouraged and even reprimanded for speaking Spanish at school, Elaine always admired her father\u2019s ability to maintain his bilingualism. She also fully understood why her parents made the decision not to teach their children Spanish out of a need to protect them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But his ability to speak Spanish was one of the reasons why he was assigned several positions of leadership in the military that dealt with Latin America or were based in Latin America.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of his jobs involved him interacting with Latino officers from all of the Americas,\u201d Elaine said. \u201cSo I think that interacting with them maybe gave [my father] a better sense of how diverse the Americas are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This realization, she said, was probably what helped him better understand the cultural diversity that existed outside of what he had always known as the Hispanic community in his native San Antonio. And eventually, this could have been the precursor to his decision to leverage his connections and seek a more concrete celebration of Hispanics in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was as a young boy in San Antonio, joined the Air Force, goes to live in Spain, goes to live in Panama where his military career had him interacting with military officers from the entire continent from all of the Americas, maybe extending his mind,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After retiring from the military, her father spent the first part of his retirement playing golf, but he would gleefully interrupt his downtime at the first opportunity to coach or mentor somebody, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father just had a lack of direction until he joined the military, and I think that\u2019s why when he gives back to these young people,\u201d Elaine Coronado said. \u201cI think that it [made him feel like] he\u2019s looking at himself as a young man. Right. He was looking at himself and he was hoping to guide them to something good, to a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gil Coronado is survived by his wife Mary Helen Zepeda Coronado, who he married in 1958 at Sacred Heart Church on the West Side. Their children Elaine, Todd, Troy and Troup Coronado, daughter-in-law Lisa Langois Coronado, son-in-law Andrew Gridley, granddaughters Raquel Estelle Coronado, Jaqueline Lisa Coronado Gridley, Mindy Helen Coronado and great-grandchildren Antonio, Athena and Jordan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He will be laid to rest at Fort Sam this weekend, with his family holding a private ceremony and funeral to commemorate his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Gil Coronado Credit: Courtesy\/ Our Lady of the Lake University<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Follow-us-on-Instagram.png\")
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