The Ray Castro Plaza

The Ray Castro Plaza. In Honored Memory of Ray Castro. , Ray Castro was the fourth of 17 children born to Mexican immigrants, Juan and Juana Castro. He was born and raised in the shadow of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the South Chicago neighborhood, Chicago's first Mexican settlement., At the outbreak of the Korean War, Ray Castro joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Albany, CA 123, a heavy cruiser. At the height of the Vietnam War, Ray Castro led the effort to erect a monument in honor of the young men from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish who were killed in action in the battlefields of Vietnam. The Parish lost more men in Vietnam than any other parish in the U.S., Ray Castro believed deeply in the importance of community and public service. He created and managed programs which gave a generation of youth a path to a productive future., Ray Castro eventually became active in politics to empower the Latino community. In 1980, Ray Castro made history when he was elected as the first Latino Democratic Ward Committeeman in Chicago and Illinois history. He did so by uniting the Mexican, Puerto Rican, African American and White Ethnic communities of the 7th Ward., Ray Castro was a loving son, brother, husband, father and grandfather.