Trinity University

Susie P. Gonzalez
susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu
210-999-8445
Oct. 24, 2011

Plumber Celebrates 50 Years at Trinity University

SAN ANTONIO - As a youngster, Juan Cura's family worked the cotton fields of Texas. He moved into construction for a brief time as a teenager, but at age 18, luck brought him to Trinity University, where he recently celebrated 50 years of employment with the Facilities Services team.

Cura was among the Trinity employees reaching milestones and honored in early October at the annual Service Awards ceremony. An upbeat man of few words, Cura said, "Trinity's been good to me."

In marking a half century at Trinity, Cura joins a very small, but elite group of employees who can boast of that accomplishment. To date, only two others have achieved 50 years of service - Teresa Wilson, who retired from the Coates Library, and Abram "June" Dominguez, who still works in Facilities Services.

Cura's first day on the job at Trinity was Aug. 29, 1961, when he reported to the grounds crew. A short time later, he joined the plumbing staff, where he has remained until today.

He recalls supervisor Eugene Ott, a native New Yorker, who was licensed as a master plumber and taught Cura the trade. Ott worked at Trinity for 18 years before retiring. In addition to teaching his employees, Ott left a legacy that the plumbers help each other out, Cura said.

Through the years, the work has become less physically demanding, since clay and cement pipes, which he said were difficult to repair, have been replaced by PVC pipes.  "Now, if a pipe leaks, you just put a hacksaw to it, cut it in two, and put in the new pipe."

He said he knows where all the valves are located on campus and is proud of previous stints working on the sprinkler system and cleaning the University swimming pool.

He chuckled as he recalled San Antonio's record 13-inch snowfall in 1985, when he was called in on the weekend to repair a water leak. The icy roads were treacherous, and he braved hazardous conditions and back streets to reach campus. When he arrived, the dispatcher told him it wasn't a water leak, after all. "The sprinklers went off and froze. I had punched in, so I stayed to help the air conditioning crew. Murchison (Residence Hall) was without heat. So I stayed."

 During his 50 years, he has served under six different University presidents, numerous directors, and has seen the Trinity campus grow from 12 buildings to more than 2 million square feet of floor space.  Supervisors say it is likely that Cura has stepped in virtually every inch of that space in the span of 50 years.

A proud father to a daughter and three grown sons, Cura has seven grandchildren and is celebrating another milestone - 50 years of marriage. He is not sure when he might retire - he has considered shooting for another 50 years - but when he does, he plans to spend time at his farm in Poteet taking care of a "few cows." 

What career advice does he have for today's college students? "Start somewhere," he said with a trademark grin. "Don't wait for the big money. Get a start, then go for what you can get and things will fall into place."