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A lifelong Chandler resident, Phillip Westbrooks was raised by one of the first Mexican pioneer families who had migrated from Hermosillo, Mexico and Chihuahua (Guadalupe), Mexico in 1917. His grandparents Miguel and Carmen Vidal settled in Chandler as migrant farm workers and they struggled in poverty to raise their nine children. Their original residence was on 401 S. Washington Street.
As a student at Chandler area schools, Phillip remembers walking from home to school through downtown Chandler. He earned money by shining shoes to purchase his first bicycle and later in life worked in the cotton fields during the summer months along side his siblings to earn money for school clothes. His grandfather helped him start his business by building a shoeshine box and he made approximately $1 per day. Phillip attributes his strong work ethic and educational goals to his grandfather Miguel who labored 12 to 16 hours a day, 6 days a week to support his large family.
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Miguel Vidal’s sister, Esperanza (Vidal) Moncivaiz, was a founding member of the Free Methodist Church and had graduated from the Los Angeles Protestant Missionary School in 1935. She and her husband established the first Spanish-speaking Free Methodist Church in downtown Chandler for the Mexican community. Miguel and family members built the original adobe-brick church site at Arizona Avenue and Saragosa Street.
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Biography & Images Submitted by Phillip Westbrooks
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