RIP Judge: Contreras dies at age 75; impossible to replace

Bobby Contreras, Hidalgo County JP for a quarter of a century, migrant farm laborer as a kid, died on the 4th, and it’s hard for those who knew him well to think of a community sans Bobby. The guy was larger than life.

He was 75.

Unique among public officials/politicians, it’s impossible to find anyone who didn’t like him. At the political fundraisers he would hold over the years, people from all political persuasions, walks of life, would show up as a sign of support.

The fact that he ran unopposed for most of his seven successful wins at the ballot box, save the last one, which really wasn’t a contest, is a testament to his popularity.

So, it’s no surprise that he lasted 25 years as a justice of the peace despite not having a law license. His predecessor, Dario Martinez, also didn’t have a law degree, but since only those with one (a law degree) can sign an arrest warrant, the days of non-lawyers running for office of a JP are quickly coming to an end.

Part of a migrant family growing up, he once told me, “You know, I picked so many cucumbers as a kid, to this day I still can’t stand the smell of a pickle.”

He’s the kind of guy who could detect BS a mile away. Probably 10 miles, give or take. If you wanted a read on someone local, you could call Bobby who would either confirm the person in question was no good or someone worthy of public office.

“Worthless,” he’d say, and then launch into the legit reasons for his opinion, with that salty language of his that only Bobby could deliver with such flair, but never in public. 

Or, he’d say, the candidate in question was worthy of public office; in it for the people as opposed to personal gain.

For Contreras, gender didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was if you were a decent person or a con. The cons who kept public office drove him crazy, but what could he do about it?

Now it’s up to County Commissioner Eddie Cantu, precinct 2, to nominate someone to fill Contreras’s remaining term, approximately 3.5 years, and then the commissioners court will vote to either approve or deny.

Whoever it is should know, though, what they’re getting into.

To go view dead bodies at 2 a.m., some still in the river, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The sights seen by JPs, who must view the aftermath of a violent fatal crime, or horrific accident, to declare the victims dead, aren’t suited for a lot of people.

He Could Read People

Contreras’s gift at reading people came from a generation fast disappearing. Kids raised in families who followed the migrant trail each year, working the job of adults before they reached the age of 10.

But what a generation that produced. People not afraid to work and who had little regard for those who never did.

Work.

The Advance published a profile piece about Contreras last month, June 4th, in which he was portrayed as a dying man looking for a miracle. He had survived a double dose of cancer in 2012, but this time was different. The bladder cancer had spread all over his body, and he was in hospice care, but sounded resigned to his fate.

He said that prayer was the only hope he had since the malignancy had metastasized beyond the bounds of a medical cure, but if the supernatural didn’t appear, he was at peace with that as well, calling it God’s will.

Such a loss.

Read the obituary: https://tinyurl.com/4n853w4w