Family Background: Public records about Serapio Huerta’s own early life are scarce. Genealogical sources list his birth as March 3, 1908, in Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico, but no contemporary biography provides details of his childhood or family. By the mid-1930s he had relocated to South Texas. Family archives record that he married Margarita Garza on July 14, 1936, in Cameron County, Texas.
Life in Texas: In Texas, Serapio Huerta worked in agriculture to support his family. One account notes he labored “in the fields”, and a later profile specifically describes him as a “vegetable packer”. Serapio Huerta died of tuberculosis in San Benito, Texas on January 15, 1945. (He was 36 years old at the time.) No additional verified information about his upbringing or education has been published.
Professional Background and Work Life
Serapio Huerta was a Mexican-born immigrant who worked as a farm laborer in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He married Margarita Garza and settled in San Benito, Texas, where their family grew. Serapio was the father of Baldemar Garza Huerta (born 1937), better known as the singer Freddy Fender. As a field worker supporting his family through hard times, he lived a humble life in the farming community of South Texas.
Support for Music and Family Responsibility
Despite their poverty, Serapio encouraged his son’s early interest in music. In one family anecdote, when Baldemar was about five years old, Serapio crafted him a simple homemade guitar from a metal sardine box. This crude instrument became one of Freddy’s first introductions to playing music. By building the guitar for his young son, Serapio showed support for Baldemar’s musical curiosity even while working long days in the fields to care for his family.
Final Years and Lasting Impact
Serapio Huerta’s life was cut short by illness. Freddy Fender later recalled, “My father died in January 1945 from tuberculosis.” At that time Serapio was only in his late thirties. His untimely death left a young family in hardship: Freddy was just seven years old when his father passed away, and the family of a widowed mother with several small children struggled financially. Fender remembered that after Serapio’s death, his mother and siblings were among the first in their town to receive welfare assistance. In this way, Serapio Huerta’s early death had a profound impact on Freddy Fender’s childhood, as he grew up largely without his father’s presence.
Marriage to Margarita Garza
Serapio Huerta was married to Margarita Garza (later known as Margarita Garza Huerta). Both were Texas-based farmworkers of Mexican heritage; according to Freddy Fender’s own account, they met while working together as migrant laborers in the fields of San Benito, Texas. The couple made their home in San Benito and raised a large family. Serapio Huerta died of tuberculosis in January 1945, leaving Margarita to raise their children on her own.
Children
Serapio Huerta had nine children. The eldest was his son Baldemar Garza Huerta (born June 4, 1937), better known by his stage name Freddy Fender. Another son was Isidro Garza Huerta (born March 22, 1939). Both Baldemar and Isidro were born to Serapio and Margarita Huerta. (Baldemar “Freddy Fender” Huerta became a Grammy-winning Tejano/country singer; Isidro’s later life was lived quietly in Texas.) These two sons are explicitly documented in reliable sources. The remaining Huerta children are less completely recorded in public records for example, some family notices name additional sons (such as Inocencio Huerta and Juan Jose “Cane” Huerta) but no further verified details (such as birth dates or occupations) are available for them.
