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Tino Trujillo, 1932-2015
his wife, Janie Lanell Trujillo, and they co-owned the restaurant together until she left for Heaven on July 24, 2004
Along with being known for the BEST Mexican Food in Plano, Trujillo also was one of the Founding Members of Collin College He was elected to Place 7 on the college's first Board of Trustees in 1985 He won five elections for six-year terms before retiring last year after nearly 30 years of distinguished service to the college He was integral in the formation and governance of the college district and served as a board officer in the roles of treasurer, secretary and vice chair. During his tenure, the college grew from 1,300 students on one campus to nearly 52,000 annually at seven sites
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Trujillo was reportedly the first person of Hispanic origin elected to public office in Collin County His service to the community included the board of directors for the Collin College Foundation, Plano Rotary Club, Plano Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society, Dallas Restaurant Association and Compass Bank of Dallas as well as service with the Salvation Army of Collin County, Republican Men's Club of Plano, Craig Gilbert Foundation, Hendricks Academy of Honor and Plano Independent
School District Advisory Committees for Foreign Language and Career Development. He also established the "Taste of Plano" food festival For his contributions to the community, he was honored as Plano's Outstanding Citizen of the Year and Small Business Person of the Year as well as the U S Small Business Administration's Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year
Tino truly cared about serving others and was proud to be an American citizen and to serve our country He always extended a helping hand to others, and at his restaurant the most important thing to him was to speak to every single customer that would walk through the door. He wanted you to feel at home while you were there, and would remember your name and your kids' names the next time you came in Tino loved to sing at his restaurant, and especially enjoyed visiting with his family and friends while trying to get them to eat a pepper that "wasn't hot" He would smile big when he'd succeed with one of his fun pranks Tino's "restaurant family" was very important to him, and he even had employees that worked for him for over 30 years All of his employees hold a HUGE place in his heart Tino loved being a grandfather and was affectionately called
