Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr. Elementary School, which is located in southwest Dallas near the Dallas National Golf Club, is one of 12 new schools opened to students for the 2006-2007 school year. At 91,000 square feet, the two-story facility is designed to accommodate 800 students in 37 core classrooms.
Biography of Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr.
The school is named for Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr., a Dallas ISD volunteer and advocate for the mentally disabled. Soto was born in Dallas in 1953, a member of one of the original "Little Mexico" families. He also was a direct descendant of the original Tejanos who settled in Texas along the Nueces River in 1847.
While attending the old Crozier Tech in Dallas, Soto excelled in the ROTC military program. He was on the swim team, participated in the marching band, and worked with children at the West Dallas Boys Club during the summer. Soto graduated from Crozier in 1970 and earned his degree from Mountain View College before attending The University of Texas in Arlington for a time.
After college, Soto enlisted in the U.S. Navy. During the Vietnam War, he served aboard several navy carriers – the USS America, USS Independence, and USS Eisenhower. He left the navy and returned to Dallas in 1980, when he joined the Naval Reserves and served for four years. Soto then joined the Army National Guard and served for another 12 years. Friends and family say he was "military down to his fingertips." In fact, when the first Gulf War erupted in 1990 he packed his bags and was ready to go.
Soto and his wife, Patsy, married young and were together for 30 years. They had eight children, three of whom are autistic. According to his wife, that is what led Soto to learn about the effects of autism and get involved in the lives of so many other disabled and mentally ill children. "He believed in service to others. It was the essence of who he was. Celestino loved his family very much, and he loved reaching out to help anyone in need, but especially the children."
The nature of his professional work as a security specialist and his love for people put him in contact with many different kinds of people in many different places in Dallas. His wife says "he was so well read that he could talk to anyone at any time about anything. In all our years together, I never won an argument!" Soto dedicated his life after the military to volunteer in Dallas ISD programs and with other organizations that helped children, such as the Special Olympics. He also spent a great deal of time teaching religion and mentoring the teenagers in his church. He was a deeply religious man and believed that was where his strength and determination came from.
Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr. died on April 12, 2002.
Biography of Celestino Mauricio Soto Jr.