Gaddi Vasquez - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Born in Carrizo Springs, Texas, Vasquez is a Mexican American and the son of migrant workers. Vasquez grew up in poverty. He kept a photo of him and his father on his desk at the Peace Corps. "I have this here as a reminder every day," said Vasquez. "I lived in Third World conditions without having to go overseas." Vasquez's family lived in a trailer in Watsonville, California and worked as migrant workers until Vasquez went to first grade. "I remember that when I was very young, people who were homeless - they were called hobos then - would come up and bang on the door and literally ask for a meal. My mother would tell them to wait on the porch or wait outside and she |would cook them a burrito, notwithstanding our own limitations. I watched this over and over again," he said, so much so that it became known, "If you needed a meal, go down to the Vasquez house." The family moved to Orange County, California where his father went to work in a furniture factory in Los Angeles and eventually to the Apostolic Church in Orange, where he is pastor. Vasquez went to school in Orange, to Santa Ana College and then on to the University of Redlands. "I was the first one to graduate college," Vasquez said. Southern California Edison VP, Public Affairs, Sacramento