Navarrete Family History
- ChandlerpediaUser2
Apolinar Maciel Navarrete came to the United States in 1907, arriving in Bakersfield, California, where he worked as a day laborer for eight months. He then returned to Mexico for two years, and then, moved to Arizona and started working on the Chandler ranch in 1910. In 1912, Pete, as he was known, moved into town to work on the construction of the San Marcos Hotel. He decided to settle in Chandler in 1915. From then until 1927, he had a team of horses and a hauling business. At this time, the Navarrete family lived on Hidalgo Street. Pete had three children with his first wife, Ofelia Rios: Frank, Lena and Rose. In 1922, he married Petra (Galaviz) Villalobos, a widow with two children. Pete and Petra had four boys and three girls together, Raul, Angel, Pete, Tony, Josie, Olga and Alexandrina (Betty).
Marcos Hotel
In 1927, he went back to work for the Chandler Improvement Company as a groundskeeper at the San Marcos Hotel. While Pete worked at the San Marcos, the Navarrete family lived in a house on the hotel grounds. They lived on Hidalgo Street between 1936 and 1941. He was promoted to head greenskeeper in 1939 and worked there until he retired in 1957.
Petra passed away on August 3, 1942. Two years later, Pete became a citizen of the United States, and three years later, he married Onesima Dueñas on July 2, 1947. Pete passed away at the age of 86 in 1976.
Raul, the oldest child of Pete and Petra, was born in Chandler in 1924. He grew up to become Chandler's first and only Hispanic mayor. He served two terms in the 1970s. He married Alicia Durazo in 1955 and had four children.
Pete’s youngest daughter, Betty, met her husband, Leonard Fairbanks, through her brother Pete in Chandler. They married on March 18, 1961. They had three children: Michael, Mary Katherine and Peter. Mary Katherine had three of her own children. Betty shared an old family recipe for Sopa de Fideo. She recalls that at times when she was growing up, this was all they had to eat. Her children enjoy the dish so much that she made it often.