SAN ANGELO, TX — Friends and family announced Sunday that Gregorio Gutierrez passed away. Mr. Gutierrez was the founder, CEO and publisher of Conexión Hispana, a free paper dedicated to Spanish-first speakers around the west central Texas and southwest Texas region.
Gutierrez was a quiet but determined man. His demeanor wasn’t harsh or threatening. Rather, he knew what his purpose was — his readers — and he politely advocated for his readership by politely asking officials and newsmakers to inform his audience.
Gutierrez founded his weekly newspaper in 2002, and when he did, the content and wide readership of his publication made an impact on how the region approached issues important to Hispanics from Del Rio to San Angelo and all parts in-between.
Former San Angelo ISD Superintendent Carol Ann Bonds noted in 2014, at the paper’s 12th anniversary, Gutierrez’s insistence to expand educational opportunities for Hispanics. Bonds said that Gutierrez the journalist always ended his interviews with, “what would you like for my audience, the kids’ parents and grandparents, to know about how you’re meeting their needs?”
“And I like that! He is a man of integrity and a good man,” Bonds said.
Joe Munoz, when he was the multicultural outreach assistant to the Angelo State University office of the president, said the Gutierrez’s paper was a game-changer for the university. By using Conexión, ASU was able to recruit more Hispanic students throughout the region, obtaining federal government recognition and grants.
In the late 2000s, as Gutierrez was struggling to make his paper sustainable while its impact was getting noticed far and wide, he was approached by the publisher of the San Angelo Standard-Times. The corporate giant offered Gutierrez $100 and a job if he’d sell his paper to Scripps and cease being a competitor. The offer was no good, Gutierrez said. Besides, later, after the corporate newspaper publisher retired, the corporate publisher admitted to Gutierrez that had Gutierrez agreed to the $100 buyout, their intention was to cease publishing Conexión and end Gutierrez’s dream.
Gregorio Gutierrez
Gutierrez passed down the lesson about the newspaper buyout offer to his son. According to his son Ricardo, someone offered to buy Ricardo’s business located in Abilene. He turned to his dad for advice.
“So you sell it. What will you do then, son?” Gutierrez asked.
Gutierrez grew up in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. in 1984. In 1986, he moved to San Angelo to work at Spanish radio station KSJT. In 1990, he married Araceli Gutierrez, a surgical assistant. By 2000, he earned his U.S. citizenship. A few years after founding Conexión in 2002, he asked his wife to quit her job at the hospital and work with him at the paper full-time. Araceli took over the billing and paper layout duties.
According to family, Gutierrez had fallen ill with COVID-19 in late November and was hospitalized since, unable to maintain an adequate oxygen level.
We are going to miss Mr. Gutierrez at the myriad of press conferences, school board and city council meetings. His presence was reassuring that the story was gong to be told to a very large audience in the regional community.
Rest in peace, Gregorio.
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