Menlow

Irma Rangel, educator, attorney, and politician, was born in Kingsville, Texas, on May 15, 1931, to Presciliano Martinez and Herminia (Lerma) Rangel. She was the youngest of three daughters. Her father was a farmer and merchant, owning a bar, two barbershops, and several other stores. Her mother was a dressmaker and also owned her own shop. While growing up in Kingsville, Rangel attended the "Mexican Ward" elementary school but later graduated from the town's integrated and only high school. Nevertheless, as a Tejana, she grew up in an environment where racism was a fact of life. Choosing not to allow prejudice to limit their goals and expectations, the Rangel family broke down some barriers. Their announcement to build a home in an all-Anglo section of Kingsville, for example, surely invited protest, yet the episode ended successfully when a prominent member of the white community intervened on their behalf. Rangel graduated in 1952 from the Texas College of Arts and Industries, now known as Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Following graduation, she started a career as an educator. She served as a teacher in several South Texas towns, Menlo Park, California, and Caracas, Venezuela, where she was principal. At the age of thirty-five, Rangel decided to pursue a law degree. She graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio in 1969 and went on to become one of the first Hispanic female law clerks for a federal district judge. After her clerkship with Judge Adrian Spears, she became one of the first Hispanic female assistant district attorneys in Texas while working in the Corpus Christi office. In 1973 she returned to her hometown to become a partner in the firm Garcia and Rangel with her friend Hector Garcia. Rangel was the only female Hispanic attorney in Kingsville at the time. She later practiced solo from 1983 to 1993.