He was a hard worker and a steady companion to his wife of nearly 80 years.
Alfred Martinez is pictured in 2018 at the 100th anniversary of his family's restaurant, El Fenix, alongside his wife Anita N. Martinez.Martinez’s parents started El Fenix a few years before he was born, in 1918. He and his seven siblings grew up in the restaurant, and all of them worked with the family business for most of their lives. Martinez worked more than 12 hours a day at the McKinney Avenue restaurant in Dallas for decades.
“She looked down the hallway , and there’s this tall, good-looking man wearing a navy suit, a white shirt and a burgundy tie,” their son Al recounted. Alfred was a gentleman when he asked her out on dates, and Anita’s family quickly took a liking to him.Alfred graduated from North Dallas High School in 1941 and volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps as a pilot. He was offered commercial pilot jobs after World War II, but he chose to return home to Dallas, to the family business.
In this 2018 file photo, Alfred Martinez , son of original owner Miguel Martinez, stops to say hello to customers at El Fenix in Dallas.Alfred and Anita married in 1946 and raised four children. The couple were passionate businessowners. Anita was a two-term Dallas city councilwoman – the first Hispanic person on the council — and also founded the Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico. Alfred was her reserved, respectful partner.
“He had a great regard for his customers,” his son Al said. “My mother, she helped the least among us by using her voice and muscle.” She has always been a champion for poor communities and educating Hispanic youth about the significance of their culture.“My parents reminded me of a coloring book: My dad was the curved black lines on the page, and my mom was the box of crayons,” Al said.Both sides of the family loved to dance.
Over the years, Alfred met plenty of celebrities — Mick Jagger, for one — though he didn’t seem star-struck. Alfred was a modest person with a strong presence. Actually, maybe it was the celebrities who should have been star-struck.Advertisementis Monday, July 22, 2024. Visitation and a rosary service is at 9 a.m. and mass is at 11 a.m. at Calvary Hill Funeral and Cemetery’s North Chapel, 3235 Lombardy Lane, Dallas.
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