The original La Muneca Cattle Company was established in the mid 70’s when three brothers, Carlos, Gerry and Victor Guerra bought a herd of 20 registered Red Brahman cows from Hugh Stephens from Nacogdoches, TX. Victor passed away in August of 1979 in a tragic asphyxiation accident at Gardner State Park near Uvalde, TX.
Guerra Bros. together with some close friends hosted their first ever cattle auction that fall – The Spirit of 46 Sale. Gerry and Carlos consigned a heifer off of their Red Brahman cows that Victor had shown that spring. He was a very special young man. They wanted to start a Victor A. Guerra Memorial Scholarship Fund with the proceeds from this heifer. Their Dad, Rafael had told them that he would match whatever the heifer sold for. She sold for $4,500 to a good friend and mentor Dr. Lee McKellar of Mt. Pleasant, Tx. Doc added $500 to make it $5,000 with Rafael adding his $5,000 to start the new scholarship fund with $10,000.
The first scholarship was awarded at the 1980 Edinburg FFA Banquet to Lucas Hinojosa. As scholarship chairman states, Carlos says “Starting this scholarship to keep Victor’s legacy alive has changed our lives in many positive ways, one of which is to help start more scholarships in more organizations to help more students. The Guerra Family has awarded over $1,000,000 in scholarships to over 1,000 students and have started several other scholarships in different organizations like The Brahman Foundation and other listed below that combined have awarded another $1,000,000 plus to many deserving students.
Many are awarded to 4-H & FFA students plus we see to it that every LinnSan Manuel Brewster School and San Isidro graduate that applies and interviews receives a scholarship. We have added FFA students from both Edinburg & Edinburg North High Schools, The Edinburg Boys & Girls Club, STAR Show, TJSSA, TJBA, American Jr. Simbrah Round-Up and the All American Jr. Brahman Show.
One of the unique attributes of these scholarships is that every recipient is interviewed and gains confidence for their next interview plus future career. They also learn to appreciate the opportunity as in many cases it has been the deciding factor in them going to college. The initial fund grows annually THANKS to the generosity of many friends who donate and buy different items from hunts to bulls in our Annual LMC & Friends Giving THANKS Online Sale. The present La Muneca Cattle Co. owned by the Carlos X. Guerra Family donate several items per year plus manage the sale. Carlos and Sister coordinate the interviews and disbursing the scholarship monies to the winners. The Guerra family awards over $75,000 per year in scholarships. For more information, please contact Carlos at lamunecacattle@aol.com.