Dirty hands and a sweaty brow were as much emblems of honor for Raúl Miranda as was the Army-green uniform he wore while serving in the Pacific during World War II.
He was part of what's called The Greatest Generation — modest Americans who came of age during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, then came home to work hard and build a booming economy.
It was his military service that reinforced Miranda's work ethic and sense of duty, said his son, Tucson Police Chief Richard Miranda.
"It was a real high point in his life. Even until his dying day he was so proud of serving in the military," the chief said.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. George Patton and Gen. Douglas MacArthur were among his father's heroes. "They represented discipline and order and that's the way we were brought up," Chief Miranda said.
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The elder Miranda turned 83 on July 4 and died at home Sunday. In early June, the hard-working husband and father of two was on the roof of the family restaurant — Molina's Midway Mexican Foods, in Midtown — repairing the air-conditioning unit. The next day he had a stroke. After several weeks in medical facilities, his family took Miranda home.
By the standards of his generation, Miranda was just a regular, blue-collar guy. He was born in the mining town of Dos Cabezas, outside Willcox. When the mine dried up, he and his mother, Sarah, moved to Superior, where there were still mining jobs to be found.
Raúl Miranda's father left the family when Raúl was a boy, but he never spoke much about his early years, his son said. After Raúl graduated from high school, he joined the Army. He seldom spoke about that, either.
"I think, like a lot of vets at that time, he hardly ever talked about what he did in the war and what kinds of situations he was in," Chief Miranda said.
Upon returning to Tucson, Miranda got a job building roads for the Pima County highway department. He started out as a heavy equipment operator and ended up as crew foreman, but never sought a desk job. His crew helped build roads leading up to Kitt Peak and Mount Lemmon and all over the West Side.
"They were regular blue-collar guys building roads," Chief Miranda said. "They were disciplined, and the sweat and dirt on their hands was a badge of honor. That's how we were brought up — to put in a good day's work."
One of Miranda's supervisors while working on the highway construction crew, Chuck Huckelberry, is now the Pima County administrator.
"He was a real gentleman," Huckelberry said. "He was one of those quiet, determined people. He was always conscientious and he was well-respected."
Miranda instilled the same qualities in his children. Weekdays, he worked for the county, but Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, he worked in the Mexican restaurants owned by his wife's family.
He and his wife, Amalia (Molly), were married for 56 years. When he retired from the county in the early 1970s, he went to work at the Molina restaurants full-time. Everyone in the family worked in the kitchen at some point, including Richard and his sister, Louisa Procci.
Procci started in one of the restaurants when she was 13. She and some of the young women she worked with occasionally spent a bit too much time chatting and giggling. Her father didn't cut her any slack.
"You can ask any of the girls. He was fair, but he made us work," Procci said. Still, "it was the best place we've ever worked in our entire lives."
Miranda "adopted" all of the young women on the staff, Procci said. He helped them buy cars and pitched in when they needed to move.
"That's just the kind of man he was, so kind and so generous," she said.
Bonnie Weible began working for Miranda 30 years ago and said he was more like a father than a boss.
"He was a very loving, caring man," Weible said. "He and his wife treated us like family.
"He was a really big role model in my life. You couldn't ask for a better person."
If Miranda wasn't at a job site or in the restaurant, he was toiling at home — building porches, barbecue pits, remodeling and putting additions on his house.
Miranda also enjoyed taking his wife dancing at El Casino Ballroom, taking in University of Arizona football games, watching baseball on TV or going to school sporting events.
"I was always very impressed with his family. They were a model family," said Vern Friedli, who coached Richard at Sunnyside Junior High. The school is closed and Friedli coaches at Amphitheater High now, but he misses supportive parents like Miranda.
"Raúl was a man. He led by example. An honest, hard-working man who had high ideals for his kids," Friedli said. "It's no surprise the sky's the limit when you have parents like that, like Mr. Miranda. He was quite a man."
Life Stories
This feature chronicles the lives of recently deceased Tucsonans. Some were well-known across the community. Others had an impact on a smaller sphere of friends, family and acquaintances. Many of these people led interesting — and sometimes extraordinary — lives with little or no fanfare. Now you'll hear their stories. Past "Life Stories" are online at go.azstarnet.com/lifestories
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