Globe Miami Times Connecting you to the Pulse of Globe Miami
Today we’re sharing an excerpt of an article that will appear in our Spring print issue, on newsstands April 6th! We’re honored to tell the story of Mr. Joe Sanchez and highlight all of his contributions to our community for the Spring 2016 installment of Git Er Done. Read the preview below and check out the full article in the Spring issue. So much neat history in this one!
“We were all [6 kids] born at home because that’s just the way it was,” says Sanchez. “The companies had a wonderful hospital here—the mining companies—but my dad didn’t work in the mines. He was a barber. In those days there were two wonderful doctors here that would come deliver you at home, so all of us were delivered at home. And that house that all of us were born in is still standing.”
Sanchez explains that his family initially came to Globe-Miami from Spain so that his father could seek out work in the mines. “His number in the system came up in 1921 and he was able to hop a freighter and come to America,” says Sanchez of his father’s immigration. Four years later, his father was able to send for his mother to join him in America. “Like many of those families that came to America, they left their home country knowing that they may never see their families again,” Sanchez points out. “It was such a strong pull for so many families.”
After graduating from high school, Sanchez enrolled in ASU. He volunteered for the draft in 1958 and served three years in the US Army as a Guided Missile Specialist. Sanchez says that he enjoyed his time in the military and the opportunity for travel that it provided. However, according to Sanchez he always knew that he’d return to the area and finish college at ASU. “That was always my plan—to come back and get my degree from ASU,” says Sanchez. “That was one of my father and mother’s dreams… they wanted us to go somewhere and get an education.” Plus, he loves it here. “I never found any place that I liked better than Globe-Miami,” he says. Sanchez met his wife Ginger during his time in the military and they were married four days after he was discharged.
Autumn Giles is a freelance writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in Edible Baja Arizona, Modern Farmer, Punch, Serious Eats, and elsewhere. Her first book, Beyond Canning was published in February 2016.
