Pete Cortes says his father Jorge and Treviño were like brothers. His father was a businessman who loved the arts and culture of San Antonio, and Treviño played a part in realizing the Cortes family’s dream of establishing a cultural arts center in El Mercado, or Market Square, and throughout the cultural zone.

Cortes says Treviño has brought the importance of the arts in San Antonio to the fore for everyone.

“With his realist style, it was just amazing,” says Cortez. “This is a big loss for San Antonio. This is a great loss for our country.”

It’s unclear what led to Treviño’s death, but throughout his life he battled a variety of health issues, including throat cancer, Express-News reported in a 2017 profile. Treviño was born December 24, 1946 in Monterrey, Mexico and grew up on the West Side of San Antonio. He studied art in New York at the Art Students League for a year until he was called up during the Vietnam War.

He returned from Vietnam after losing his right arm to an injury while serving. After recovering from his injury, Treviño attended San Antonio College, where he learned to draw with one hand.

Gabriel Velázquez was another close friend of Treviño whom he met through Father Cortés. Velasquez recalls that Treviño was a handsome man with character. According to Velázquez, he was as “daring” as he was “proud” and “loyal”. Most of all, Velasquez says, Treviño was a Vietnam veteran who used his art to speak to the Chicano culture as someone who was uniquely Mexican-American.

“This brother was a Vietnam War veteran, and everything else was, in a sense, secondary to that fact,” Velasquez says. “You can see the art and the proud American that it was.”

You don’t have to look far to find iconic images of Treviño Chicano and Mexican-American culture, San Antonio people and spirituality. If you drive north or south on I-35 through downtown San Antonio, you can see the nine-story “Spirit of Healing” mosaic mural on the side of Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital.

Treviño’s work can also be seen on the Chapa lion fresco on the old Chapa Pharmacy, “Little Laredo” on the Casa Navarro side, and more famously on the “La Veladora Our Lady of Guadalupe” mosaic at the Guadeloupe Cultural Arts Center.

Cristina Balli, executive director of Guadalupe Cultural Arts, says the 2006 mural has become part of Westside’s iconography known throughout the world, as well as a place of spiritual reverence for the locals. She says that everyone at Guadalupe Cultural Arts is saddened by the news of Treviño’s death.

“He meant a lot to the city and really represented the culture of the city and Mexican Americans around the world,” Balli says.

Most of all, as Velasquez told MySA, Treviño was a great friend. He had to spend some time with Treviño before he died, saying they shared a tearful and emotional moment, which he says is not considered typical of the “Westside guy” archetype. But they were close enough to share this vulnerable moment.

“I will always remember this. This is the most valuable memory of my friendship,” Velasquez says. “It will mean something to me.”