On Tuesday Bexar County Commissioners honored the late Rudy A. Garza for his years of service as the county tax assessor-collector.
Before he was Bexar County’s tax assessor-collector, Garza was chief of investigation for the district attorney’s office in the 1970s, which is when Tommy Adkisson, now a county commissioner, knew him.
Adkisson looked up to Garza as a mentor, and described him as skilled at everything he did.
"It's not an easy job," he said. "There are a lot of employees handling a lot of money -- therein lies the challenge. But Rudy Garza was technically competent and personally gracious."Adkisson said.
Garza was later appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the U.S. Marshal in the Western District of Texas and eventually to the post of the county’s tax assessor, where he served for almost 15 years.
Current Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti said he called his long-ago predecessor to get some lessons about the county’s tax systems and history.
"We were going to meet with him because I had talked to someone about trying to get with him and try and pick his brain. And so, I hope to be, you know, if I'm half as good as he was then I'll be great," Uresti said.
The whole family turned out for the commissioners’ proclamation in honor of Garza’s service, including his son and daughter and wife, Yolie, who worked in commissioners court. Garza died March 28 at the age of 84.
