ALPINE – Camilo Celaya’s May 31 retirement will conclude nearly 70 years of Sul Ross State University employment by three generations of his family.
Camilo Celaya, presently the grounds supervisor, will conclude 33 years service, nearly matching the 35-year tenure of his father, Gregorio, who retired December 31, 1998. Son Camilo, Jr., also worked for over a year at Sul Ross. Father, son and grandson were all employed in the Physical Plant Department.
“I have enjoyed working here and I appreciate all the people I have worked with,” he said. “The grounds crew has a done a great job in all the years I have been here and I am very proud of the landscaping work that has been done to make Sul Ross such an attractive place.”
Over the years, Celaya, who began work Jan. 1, 1981, has helped maintain the landscape of not only the main campus, but also the Turner Range Animal Science Center, rodeo arena, Centennial School, Kokernot Lodge, outdoor theatre, Poets Grove, Kokernot Field, Jackson Field, Lobo Field, intramural playing fields and the track infield.
His skills have grown with changing technology. When Celaya began working at Sul Ross, all irrigation was done with manual irrigation pipes. Mowing was a weeklong task with six push mowers.
“When I started, two guys watered all night, moving the hoses all over campus,” he said. “We had six mowers and would start on Monday morning at Turner Range Animal Science Center, then to the duplexes, the rocks and bricks (cottages), through the campus to the Library, then to Kokernot Lodge.”
Celaya said there was a gradual shift to automated sprinkling systems, along with riding and self-propelled mowers, “and we evolved with the system, both in irrigation and landscaping.”
While at Sul Ross, Celaya has seen major facilities growth and renovation, including new residential living facilities (Lobo Village), Vic and Mary Jane Morgan University Center, and Pete P. Gallego Center, along with refurbishing to the Wildenthal Library, Range Animal Science Center, Warnock Science Building, Graves-Pierce Recreational Center and the renovation/relocation of the Museum of the Big Bend.
He helped in the construction of Lobo Field for women’s softball as well as refurbishing the playing surface of historic Kokernot Field.
Celaya has worked under four Presidents (C.R. Richardson, Jack Humphries, R. Vic Morgan and Ricardo Maestas) and six grounds superintendents.
“By working together and sharing ideas and knowledge, we have made a lot of adjustments in how things are done,” he said. “One thing I have done as a superviser is to have cross-training, so the crew members would be able to fill in where needed. I think it has helped our efficiency.”
Celaya has enjoyed an accident-free safety record, although he had a close call with a swarm of angry bees while mowing near the old rock cottages. He has received the Bar-SR-Bar Award for Employee Excellence and served on the university Staff Council and Safety Committee.
“I have enjoyed it,” he said. “It has been a privilege to work here.”
Retirement from Sul Ross will find him working full-time with his private lawn service and landscaping business.
An Alpine native, he and his wife, Belinda, have three children: Camilo, Jr., who lives with his wife Jamie and three sons in San Antonio, working in management for McDonald’s; Marcos, a Sul Ross graduate now an accountant with the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District; and Jaylynn, at home.
His parents, Gregorio and Eloisa, live in Alpine, as do three sisters and their families: Pam Celaya, Gracie (Richard) Villanueva; and Selma (Rick) Garcia.
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