Frank Cruz

Frank F.B. Cruz, founder and owner of Laguna Nursery, passed away Monday, August 26, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 61, after a lengthy battle with colon cancer. He was born on May 30, 1952, in Uvalde, Texas to Gilbert M. and Victoria Barrientos Cruz.
Cruz and his dad, Gilbert M. Cruz, owned and operated the nursery at 314 W. Main St. until Gilberts death at 94 on Dec. 4, 2011. After his dads death, Frank, already struggling with cancer, sold the nursery to concentrate on his own health needs. Laguna Nursery with its unique old railroad depot building was well known to many Uvaldeans who frequented the place for some 25 years looking for advice and plants suitable for this areas climate.
Gilbert Cruz Sr. started the business with a small stand selling locallygrown fruits and vegetables such as watermelons, cantaloupes and shelled pecans.
A graduate of Uvalde High School, Frank attended Southwest Texas State University while working with Gary Job Corps. He left college for a while to work in the oil field jobs in South Texas and Latin America, and then returned to college to finish his degree in education. After college, he spent several years running a hunting operation on an oil and gas company ranch north of Uvalde. Because hunters seemed impressed with his ability to field dress and process a deer using only a knife, he and his brother Gilbert Jr. and a friend, Johnny Caballero, decided to produce a howto booklet and video demonstrating the process. The process supposedly was used by Indians. The Schrade knife company learned about the video and booklet and sought to buy the rights for use by the Boy Scouts.
Frank also spent some time working with the Upward Bound program before starting work with his dad to build the fruit stand into the successful Laguna Nursery.
From his many friends in the nursery and landscaping business he acquired the knowledge to make Laguna what it became. He particularly studied the different types of grasses because an elderly friend told him that was what would sell best. He passed the certification examination for nurseryman on his first try because of his study of grasses and started selling carpet grass at Laguna. He and his dad bought one of five lots at 314 W. Main St. in 1990 and eventually the business grew into the nursery where Frank was able to grow his own plants, making the business much more profitable. He got an old cement mixer from a cement truck and converted it to make his own potting soil for quick starting small plants, seedlings and such. As the business grew, they purchased most of the remaining lots on the 300 block of W. Main St., started adding greenhouses and set up an irrigation system to conserve water, growing the business into the success it eventually became.
Frank is survived by his fiance Sylvia M. Romero of San Antonio one sister, Teresa C. Kypuros of Eagle Pass two brothers, Moises B. Pena of Austin and Gilbert Cruz Jr. of San Antonio, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by is mother Victoria Barrientos Cruz in 1993 and his father, Gilbert M. Cruz, in 2011.
A Vigil and recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at RushingEstesKnowles Mortuary on Thursday, August 29, 2013 and Friday, August 30, 2013 at 7:00 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2013 at 9:30 AM at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, with burial to follow at Hillcrest Cemetery.
Pallbearers are Christopher Cruz, Mike Kypuros, Daniel Padilla, Jaime Kypuros Jr., Michael Pena and Jaime Kypuros Sr.
Honorary pallbearers are Moses Pena Jr., Kenneth Durham, Johnny Flores, Johnny Caballero, Rick Flores, Domingo Prado, Juan Martinez, Walter Collin Weiss, Greg Souquette, Al Cedillo, John Gonzales, Dale Clayton, Nathan Nash, Sergio Porras, Ramiro Ramirez and David Valdez.

Service

Funeral

Sacred Heart Catholic Church
408 Ft. Clark Rd.
Uvalde, TX  78801
Saturday, August 31, 2013
9:30 AM

Rosary

RushingEstesKnowles Mortuary
220 S. Getty St.
Uvalde, TX  78801
Thursday, August 29, 2013
7:00 PM

Rosary

RushingEstesKnowles Mortuary
220 S. Getty St.
Uvalde, TX  78801
Friday, August 30, 2013
7:00 PM

Cemetery

Hillcrest Cemetery
Hwy. 90 West
Uvalde, TX  78801