No longer in a gang; a good life brings bell

Romero was nominated by Colin Germain, who met Romero when his company installed tile at Germain's home.

"He's a great person who's doing a great job," Germain said.

Romero grew up in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles and though his early childhood was peaceful, problems began mounting as he aged. His parents fought and then divorced. He ran away from home when he was 12 and worked agriculture jobs for a while. And when he headed back to L.A. a few years later, he began running with violent street gangs.

He came to Arizona at 17, after his stepfather killed a man in front of the family's home.

Things didn't improve much in Tucson. He married soon after arriving and within four years had four daughters. But his wife left him and the children, and he was still running with gangs and selling drugs. A few years later, his mother was killed in Los Angeles and he turned even more often to drugs and alcohol to cope.

He met his current wife, Roxane, but even that didn't change things immediately.

"I was trying to live the life of a gang member because that's all I knew," Romero said. "Roxane would always tell me, 'You can change your life, you know there's something better.' I told her she didn't understand, she didn't live the life I'd led, to be standing with your friends and have it start raining and have the water come into your shoes because there's holes in them."

The hatred and bitterness flowed deeply within him, Romero said. His wife took him to church services, but it didn't help. She brought home friends and associates to talk to him about how life could be better, but that didn't help, either.

"I thought nobody could change my life," Romero said. "I wouldn't let anyone get close to me. Everyone had hurt me my whole life. But my wife continued to work and work and work at it. And one day she convinced me to go to this church."

There, a visiting preacher called to him from the pulpit, summoning him to the front of the hall and whispering in his ear words that brought forth flashbacks to the really bad times. But as he watched the scenes, Romero realized that even at his worst, he wasn't all bad. And as he walked back to his seat, the much-tattooed man with five earrings, a long goatee and more gang emblems than he could count began to change.

He had a new challenge.

"I was standing against the wall, right after the preacher told me these things and I said, 'God if you're as real as you say you are, stop me from being abusive to my wife. Stop me from being bitter and mean to my kids, to people on the street. Help me with my hate. Help me with this bitterness. Stop me from doing drugs. Stop me from drinking. Stop me from cursing. If you do these things, I'll serve you for the rest of my life.'"

At the end of the service, Romero knelt at the altar and knew things would be different.

He managed to turn it all around, and three years ago he was even able to buy the company where he was working — Tucson Tile & Stone Inc. He's now become a mentor to the other former gang members who make up his staff of four.

Also, through his church — The Door Christian Fellowship Church — he travels around the Southwest, sharing his story and staging plays to reach young people. And he now works with the Tucson Police Department's gang unit, too, going into schools to reach young people before the gang life does.

"I go all over now to tell my story," Romero said. "But it's not about me. It's about showing people I lived that kind of life. I had the money, the guns, the cars and the women. And at the end of the day, I'd grab the gun and put it to my mouth and say, 'What good is all this?' Today, I don't have a dime in my pocket, but I'm the happiest man in the world."

He sees his success firsthand when he looks at his six daughters and two sons. One daughter is a nurse and another is going to be a pharmacist. One of his sons wants to be a doctor and the other dreams of being a police officer. All of them are on the right path, he said.

He also sees his success in his employees, in how they're winning the same battles he fought.

That's what impressed Germain when Tucson Tile went to his house about two months ago to install new flooring. He and Romero got to talking about life, and the tile setter recounted his story. And as Germain watched the men work politely and responsibly, obviously looking up to Romero, he marveled.

"These are people he's taken under his wing who want to straighten their lives out and get out of the gang life," Germain said. "I was very impressed that he was able to take these people and teach them a trade and show them they're able to make it in life with a legitimate job, and they don't have to be gang members."

Besides, he added, "the tile work is just excellent."

"Not only is Frank helping people out, he does great work," Germain said.

So he decided to nominate Romero for a Ben's Bell. The folks with the bells presented it to Romero recently in a brief ceremony that he admits brought tears to his eyes.

"It's overwhelming to be honored," he said, then with a laugh added: "I told me wife, they used to put rewards out for me, and now I'm getting an award."

Turning serious again, he said: "It's real important to me that I'm a good testimony. This award means that people who are like me, or maybe in a worse situation, can change. This is a privilege, it really is. It's not going to be taken lightly."

For More Info

To learn more about Frank Romero's story and his business, Tucson Tile & Stone Inc., call 850-2605.