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Marcella and Jesse Garcia on the field that brought them together.
On Sept. 30, 1965, Superior High School hosted its first football game on the Memorial Football field. Prior to that year Superior High School played on a rock field. The former field was known a the “dust bowl”. Many of their competitors refused to play in Superior due to the dangerous conditions.
The current sporting facilities of the baseball and football fields were built when the district approved a $390,000 bond; $160,000 of which went towards constructing the Superior Memorial Field.
The field has an interesting story that many people may not know about. In the 1960s the school district utilized a program called Neighborhood Youth Corps to work around the school with various housekeeping and groundskeeper tasks. The football field was assigned a special worker, Jesse Garcia. Coach Will Gonzalez tasked him with the job of growing the grass from seeds in time for the 1965 football season. He worked all summer to ensure that the field was ready, removing rocks and preparing to grow the grass. The job was tedious and it required precision, knowing how much to water and mowing at just the right time so the grass could grow equally across the gridiron. It was a big job and Jesse appreciated this job. He was one of six brothers and his father was not a miner so their income was modest in comparison to others. (He is the son of Ramon and Vickie Garcia.) The job provided him a way to help his family pay for his school books, clothing and shoes, he explained.
Garcia had hoped that his work on the field would help his build a relationship with Coach Garcia so he could be a member of the football team, but due to hairline fractures in his shoulder and leg, the coach would not let him on the team. Working the field would be the closest he got to being on the football team. He worked on the field until he graduated from Superior High School in 1967.
He spent so much time working on the field that he gave the love of his life her first kiss on that very field.
“I was a shy guy,” he said.
His wife Marcella (Gonzalez) Garcia explained how the two had their first kiss on the football field. Marcella explained that she had been playing tennis with her team mate Tommy Macias; she beat him twice as she recalls. The two had bet and $2 would go to the winner; after losing the bet and the two matches, Tommy suggested that they go play football and pick up Jesse who was working at the field that spring afternoon. The three played a mock version of football using tennis balls that Marcella brought to the field. While the two boys kept running the ball, eventually Marcella got the ball and well, just like in the movies the boy tackles the girl and boom…there is the first kiss.
Forty-five years later the two are still married. They have three children and 10 grandchildren. The couple married in 1970 a few years after Marcella graduated in 1968 from Superior High School.
Jesse credits his work ethic to his early years of working on the football field to his career success in the Army and for the US Postal Service. Following high school, Jesse attended Arizona State University; he graduated from ASU in 1972 and then entered the Army as a 2nd infantry Lieutenant. Despite those injuries that prevented him from playing football he went on be part of the special services in the Army. He was in the 82nd Airborne, serving as a military diplomat in Guatemala where he was a teacher.
“I volunteered for every position I received,” he said.
The family was stationed in Guatemala, Fort Bragg and Fort Ord during their military career.
“We always met up with people that were from Superior along the way,” explained Marcella. “In Fort Bragg we were able to build a strong friendship with Elizabeth Rua-Berdine and her husband. They would come and stay with us and one time they even helped care for our children when we had to travel.”
Jesse retired from the Army in 2000 and remained on reserve status until 2008 when he was officially retired from the Army. In 2013 he retired from the US Postal service. Jesse and Marcella retired to Superior and have been full time residents since 2010. They are involved with the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and the Superior Optimist Club.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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