Romero retires as Nosotros CEO and academy chief

He was surrounded by about 100 guests, including relatives, friends and students during a party late last month that recognized his work at the non-profit agency at 440 N. Grande Ave.

At age 67, Romero gave more than 30 years to the West Side non-profit organization that he helped found in 1972. Romero still plans on consulting when needed and serving on the agency's board of directors.

Guadalupe Romero, his wife, explained that her husband is slowing down as a result of complications resulting from living with diabetes for 30 years.

Frank Romero began dialysis seven years ago. This past summer he underwent brain surgery, and then suffered from a series of heart attacks. Doctors at St. Mary's Hospital did not expect him to survive, but the family refused to give up hope and doctors pulled him through to a remarkable recovery, Guadalupe Romero said.

"I see it as a miracle," said Frank Romero, explaining that he believes his devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe helped make it possible.

"I had a lot of family and friends praying for me and coming to see me at the hospital. It was a very humbling experience," he said in an interview last week.

His family kept an image of the Virgin near his hospital bed until he was discharged this fall.

With a renewed zest for life, Romero plans to continue giving of his time to Nosotros and the youths the organization serves. He knows firsthand the needs of the clients.

Romero is a native Tucsonan who grew up in Barrio Hollywood, a blue-collar neighborhood. He graduated from Tucson High in 1959 and from the University of Arizona in 1965, majoring in business and public administration.

"Frank put himself through school by working at various supermarkets. He started as a bag boy and climbed up to manager," said Guadalupe, who retired in 2003 as a Tucson Unified School District administrator. The Romeros have four children and eight grandchildren.

Before joining Nosotros as a full-time employee in 1983, Romero worked for the city and administered an educational and job program funded with federal monies for about 15 years.

Nosotros began as a social services agency with one employee, a handful of volunteers and about a $10,000 annual budget, recalled Romero, who served on the agency's board in the 1970s. It grew to include a day care center and an alternative education program.

Today, Nosotros runs a charter school on a $1.3 million budget and employs 51 people. It serves about 200 students. In five years, the board plans to buy more property and build a high school and use its present buildings to house an elementary and middle school, said Romero.

Children that were not succeeding in the traditional public school system are making gains at Nosotros, he said. "They are achieving and are enrolling in Pima Community College classes while they are in high school. It is very rewarding to see them succeed," Romero said.

Hector Arreola, a 2004 graduate of Nosotros Academy, is a Pima Community College student studying hotel and restaurant management. "Frank opened doors for me. He was the first person I spoke to at the academy, and he accepted me and helped me get into the school," Arreola said.

The academy through the PCC Foundation established the Frank O. Romero College Bound Scholarship for graduates to attend the community college. A $550 scholarship is awarded twice a year, said Darcie Aukeman-Liarakos, a teacher at the academy. "Frank has contributed a great deal to this community, and this scholarship is a way to carry on his legacy," Aukeman-Liarakos said.