Mr. Jose Antonio (Joe) Lopez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas.  USAF Veteran. 

He served over 37 years in military/Federal Service.  When he retired on January 1, 2000, he held a senior civilian management position at the U.S. Air Education/Training Command, Randolph AFB, TX.  He and his wife now reside in Universal City, Texas. 

Mr. Lopez is a descendant of Don Javier Uribe and Dona Apolinaria Bermudez de Uribe, one of the families accompanying Don Jose de Escandon into what is now South Texas in the mid-1700s.  He is married to the former Cordelia Jean "Cordy" Dancause of Laredo.  They have one daughter, Brenda Jo Gainey.

Mr. Lopez has college degrees from Laredo Jr. College and Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, TX. He earned a Master's Degree in Education. 

He is the author of two books: "The Last Knight (Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe, A Texas Hero)", and "Nights of Wailing, Days of Pain (Life in 1920s South Texas)".  Both are published by the Xlibris Corporation.

Today, Mr. Lopez conducts presentations at school campuses throughout South Texas teaching students, teachers, and staff about pre-1836 Spanish Mexican Texas history.  Although an early Texas history writer at heart, Mr. Lopez has also written a number of newspaper articles on socio-political issues and current events that affect Spanish-surnamed citizens in the Southwest.