The Gospel According to Blind Willie Johnson 
People We’ll Miss—2009
Kenny Eaton says: Stephen Bruton should have been included in this article. I don’t know about you folks in Texas but down here in Alabama, Stephen is still sorely missed. (December 17th, 2009 at 10:43am)
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Clarence Swensen, 91
[ 12.29.1917 – 02.25.2009 ]
Fans of The Wizard of Oz know Clarence Swensen, even if it’s difficult to say exactly where his character was on-screen. At four feet six-and-three-quarter inches (with a nickname like Shorty, he never overlooked the three quarters), the Austin native portrayed one of the Munchkin soldiers who escorted Dorothy as she started down the Yellow Brick Road on her quest to meet the great wizard in the Emerald City. Though Swensen made only $50 a week plus room and board (Toto reportedly earned $125 a week), it was more than enough to earn him a spot in movie history. “He appeared in only three films, one before The Wizard of Oz and one after,” says Myrna, his wife of 62 years. “That was his film career. But he loved it, and he loved talking about it. I accused him of being able to walk up to a telephone pole and start a conversation.” BDS
MARIA DE LA LUZ Nieto, 79
[ 08.27.1929 – 07.15.2009 ]
Maria de la Luz Nieto—or Lucha, as she was known—was a born performer. From her earliest days in Sabinal, when she won a singing competition at age nine, to her final ones in San Antonio, when she sang with the San Fernando Cathedral choir, she was happiest onstage and surrounded by music. She became popular in San Antonio and across the U.S. for her ardent renditions of traditional Mexican songs, belting out rancheras and norteñas to crowds in Chicago, Miami, and at West Side nightclubs such as Lerma’s, and for her corridos, whose subjects ranged from political figures—Henry Cisneros, Bill Clinton—to events such as 9/11. She kept composition books on hand at all times. “She felt so close to her music, she carried it with her, like a purse,” says her daughter Lourdes Bugher. In tribute to her lifelong passion, Nieto was buried in a favorite stage outfit: her pink charro suit. KR
Bobby “Tex” Moore, 76
[ 02.02.1933 – 06.13.2009 ]
Bobby Moore arrived in Corpus Christi in 1968 for one reason: to sell you a car. The Georgia native hawked Dixie Cream Donuts as a young man, but he hit his stride in Texas, at one point becoming the number three salesman in the nation for Chrysler. His slogan was “You get more with Moore,” and he was so good at his job that he could work one week, then spend the rest of the month either in his beloved Las Vegas or on the road with his pal Freddy Fender. Always the showman, Moore made sure his customers never forgot him by wearing green suits, red suits, and yellow suits—complete with matching ties, hats, and shoes. “He dressed a bit like Liberace,” says his son Bobby Junior, who owns the Stingray Alley dealership, in Corpus. “And he’d give you his custom-made hat if you bought a vehicle from him.” No wonder Moore’s tombstone includes his favorite word: “Sold.” BDS
Matt Martinez Jr., 63
[ 05.19.1945 – 03.13.2009 ]
The irony would not be lost on chef and restaurateur Matt Martinez Jr. that his most famous dish, Bob Armstrong Dip, bears another man’s name. The scion of a Tex-Mex restaurant dynasty, Martinez created his most lasting culinary legacy—an outrageous appetizer consisting of layers of taco meat, guacamole, sour cream, and chile con queso—at El Rancho, his father’s Austin restaurant, at the request of land commissioner Robert Armstrong in 1972. When Martinez moved to Dallas, in 1985, to start his own restaurant, the dish became a staple there too. Matt’s Rancho Martinez has for years attracted the city’s movers and shakers, and he once served a chicken-fried steak to Julia Child. But Martinez was most at ease with ordinary people. With his wry smile, neatly trimmed mustache, and jaunty hat, he looked like everyone’s favorite uncle. And in a way, he was. PATRICIA SHARPE
Patzy Swayze on Patrick Swayze
[ 08.18.1952 – 09.14.2009 ]
Patrick Swayze
Portrait illustration by HELLOVON
Patrick Swayze was an actor best known for his romantic leads in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost. Born and raised in Houston, he grew up in a family of entertainers. After graduating from Waltrip High School, he won a gymnastics scholarship to San Jacinto College, but he soon moved to New York City to pursue a career in ballet. Eventually he transitioned to acting, landing roles in productions of Grease and the movie Red Dawn. But it is Swayze as a heartthrob—People magazine named him the Sexiest Man Alive in 1991—that a generation of fans will remember. He died at age 57.
Patsy Swayze, an award-winning dance instructor, is Patrick’s mother. She is the founder of the Houston Jazz Ballet Company and served as the choreographer for Urban Cowboy and Hope Floats.
My husband, Jesse, was known as “Big Buddy,” so we called Patrick “Little Buddy.” My husband was just drop-dead gorgeous, and when Patrick was a boy, he looked so much like his dad. All five of my children took dancing lessons when they were growing up, but it was always their decision, not mine. Patrick was passionate about dancing, and he dedicated himself to it from the age of three. He was also very musical. He learned to play the violin and liked to sing in the school choir. And he never had stage fright—not that boy. He glowed in the spotlight.
Patrick loved to put on little productions at the house, and his first actual performance came when he was six. As he got older, he also participated in as many sports as he could: baseball, football, track, gymnastics, swimming. He was always active, and I think he was the lead in all of his school productions from junior high up. Every now and then, the kids at school would try to make fun of him. Once, when he was going from orchestra to dance class, some boys stopped him in the hall. I told him, “If they’re giving you trouble, just take those ballet shoes out of your pocket and beat the snuff out of them.”
I was fortunate to have a number of great students at my dance studio. One was Jaclyn Smith [who went on to star in Charlie’s Angels]. Another one of my prize pupils was Lisa Niemi. After high school, Patrick went on a national tour with Disney on Parade, and he played the role of Prince Charming. When that ended, he came back to Houston for a bit. That’s when he met Lisa. Back then we did a lot of work with various Houston dance groups and the Houston Grand Opera. I paired them together, and that’s how they got so close. They just hit it off, and it was obvious at the dance studio that they were inseparable. I think they fell madly in love from the day they met. They married in 1975, and she became his dancing partner throughout life.
Patrick and Lisa then moved to New York. It’s scary when your young son leaves home for good. We were thrilled that he had so many opportunities, but we were focused on him keeping his head out of the clouds. Yet because we were a theatrical family and that’s the way my children were trained, I was not at all surprised by his success. There were few male actors who could sing and dance. We just expected it, I guess. And even though he was kind of a celebrity from the time he was a child, he’d tell me about his movie success, “Mother, I can’t believe all of this is happening to me. I hope I’m worthy of it.” as told to BRIAN D. SWEANY
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