Collin College Board of Trustees founding member and local restaurateur Tino Trujillo passed away last week while visiting family in Mexico, according to a statement released by the college on June 25. He was 82.
Fortino “Tino” Trujillo was elected to Place 7 on the college’s first board of trustees in 1985. He won five elections for 6-year terms before retiring last year after nearly 30 years of service as treasurer, secretary and vice chair.
Trujillo was born in Villa Victoria, Mexico and attended the University of Mexico City, where he majored in economics and worked as a federal tax collector, industry inspector and economist for the government of Mexico before immigrating to the United States in 1952. He served in the U.S. Army and eventually became a partner at his first restaurant in Glendale, California. After moving to Texas, he opened Tino’s Restaurant and Cantina in 1976, when the population of Plano was just 43,000.
Trujillo’s nephew Raul Trujillo owns and manages the restaurant, which moved locations in 2000 and is located at 2205 K Ave. Members of the Trujillo family were unable to be reached for comment at the time of this posting.
Trujillo was reportedly the first person of Hispanic origin elected to public office in Collin County. His service to the community included the Plano Rotary Club, Plano Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society and the Salvation Army of Collin County, among many others. He was also honored as Plano’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year and Small Business Person of the Year as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year.
“My relationship with Tino goes back almost 40 years. He was a great friend, leader for this college and servant to the community,” Board Chair Bob Collin said. “He quietly and in his own special way influenced Plano and Collin, and we are very sad to lose him. He was a gracious, friendly, fun-loving person who enjoyed entertaining friends and customers in his restaurant that carried his name. Tino’s commitment to education and legacy of self-sacrifice, integrity and service will live on as an example for generations to come. I, and many others who knew him as a friend, will miss him.”
A memorial service is set for noon on Thursday, July 9 at the Spring Creek Campus Conference Center, located 2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway. Flags on all campuses of Collin College will be lowered to half-staff in Trujillo’s honor and a tree will be planted on campus. Memorial gifts can be made to the Collin College Foundation for the Tino Trujillo Scholarship Fund by calling 972-599-3144.
Collin College Board of Trustees founding member and local restaurateur Tino Trujillo passed away last week while visiting family in Mexico, according to a statement released by the college on June 25. He was 82.
Fortino “Tino” Trujillo was elected to Place 7 on the college’s first board of trustees in 1985. He won five elections for 6-year terms before retiring last year after nearly 30 years of service as treasurer, secretary and vice chair.
Trujillo was born in Villa Victoria, Mexico and attended the University of Mexico City, where he majored in economics and worked as a federal tax collector, industry inspector and economist for the government of Mexico before immigrating to the United States in 1952. He served in the U.S. Army and eventually became a partner at his first restaurant in Glendale, California. After moving to Texas, he opened Tino’s Restaurant and Cantina in 1976, when the population of Plano was just 43,000.
Trujillo’s nephew Raul Trujillo owns and manages the restaurant, which moved locations in 2000 and is located at 2205 K Ave. Members of the Trujillo family were unable to be reached for comment at the time of this posting.
Trujillo was reportedly the first person of Hispanic origin elected to public office in Collin County. His service to the community included the Plano Rotary Club, Plano Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society and the Salvation Army of Collin County, among many others. He was also honored as Plano’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year and Small Business Person of the Year as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year.
“My relationship with Tino goes back almost 40 years. He was a great friend, leader for this college and servant to the community,” Board Chair Bob Collin said. “He quietly and in his own special way influenced Plano and Collin, and we are very sad to lose him. He was a gracious, friendly, fun-loving person who enjoyed entertaining friends and customers in his restaurant that carried his name. Tino’s commitment to education and legacy of self-sacrifice, integrity and service will live on as an example for generations to come. I, and many others who knew him as a friend, will miss him.”
A memorial service is set for noon on Thursday, July 9 at the Spring Creek Campus Conference Center, located 2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway. Flags on all campuses of Collin College will be lowered to half-staff in Trujillo’s honor and a tree will be planted on campus. Memorial gifts can be made to the Collin College Foundation for the Tino Trujillo Scholarship Fund by calling 972-599-3144.
