Romana Acosta Banuelos

Ms. Acosta Bañuelos died on Jan. 15 2008 in a senior care center in Redondo Beach, Calif. She was 92. Her daughter, Ramona Bañuelos, said the cause was complications of pneumonia. Ms. Acosta Bañuelos, a Republican, served as US Treasurer from 1971 to 1974. Ms. Acosta Bañuelos, one of a few dozen Latino officials appointed by the Nixon administration, went on to campaign for the president in 1972. Romana Acosta Bañuelos was born on March 20, 1925, in Miami, Ariz., a small mining town about 85 miles east of Phoenix. Her father, Juan Francisco Acosta, a former guerrilla fighter under the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, owned a tortilla factory; her mother, Teresa Lugo, was a homemaker. Her parents divorced early in her childhood. Though Ms. Acosta Bañuelos was an Arizonan by birth, when she was 7, during the Depression, she and her mother and stepfather were deported to Mexico as part of an anti-immigrant backlash. After arriving in California in her late teens (the immigration authorities confirmed her American citizenship), she found work as a dishwasher and waitress and sold homemade tortillas to neighbors. Once she had saved about $500, she and her second husband, Alejandro Bañuelos Tapia, a tool and die maker, invested it. Ms. Acosta Bañuelos eventually bought out her partners and ran the business, Ramona’s Mexican Food, herself. She expanded the business, adding tamales and packaged and frozen burritos to the menu. Her husband took care of the equipment, and her sons and daughter later joined the company. Taking notice of the company’s success, local businessmen approached Mr. Bañuelos about joining them in establishing a bank for the Latino community. He steered them to his wife. In 1964, Ms. Acosta Bañuelos and her partners established the Pan American National Bank in East Los Angeles, the heart of the Mexican diaspora in the city. Ms. Acosta Bañuelos was serving as bank president and board chairwoman while running her food company when the Nixon White House came calling. After three years with the Treasury, she returned to spend many more years at the bank and at Ramona’s, which is now owned by a grandson. Besides her daughter, Ms. Acosta Bañuelos is survived by her son Martin; 12 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Her son Carlos died in 2011.