Houston City Council votes to rename Cesar Chavez Boulevard

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston City Council has voted to rename Cesar Chavez Boulevard to MSG Joe E. Ramirez Boulevard on Wednesday morning. The vote passed unanimously with no one opposed.

A Korean War veteran's family was waiting anxiously to see if the City of Houston would rename the East End street in his honor.

Renaming the street has been a topic of discussion ever since sexual abuse allegations against Chavez emerged in March.

Ramirez, a lifelong East End resident who died in 2020 at the age of 89, was just 18 when he enlisted in the military. Early in the Korean War, he was shot five times and taken captive by Chinese soldiers.

For nearly three years, he endured grueling conditions and psychological torment as a prisoner of war.

"Everybody's always thinking of food," Ramirez told Eyewitness News during a 1991 interview.

Ramirez was finally freed when two of his ten sisters begged the Chinese government to trade him for another prisoner.

"He's our only brother," Ramirez's granddaughter, Brittany, said, recounting the sisters. "If he were to die, then our whole bloodline dies."

Ramirez left the military after returning home to Houston in 1953, but re-enlisted just months later.

"Which was a big shock to everybody, including the community around him," Brittany Ramirez said.

Joe Ramirez left the military for good in 1971 after 22 years of service, retiring with the rank of master sergeant.

For the next 26 years, he worked in Houston making eyeglasses.

His decades of military service served as a blueprint for future generations of his family.

"Both my brothers were in the military, and then I have several nephews that have gone in the military," Ramirez's daughter, Rossana Bobbitt, said.

"I would like to acknowledge Master Sgt. Ramirez, whom I had the honor of visiting and spending time with," Houston Mayor John Whitmire said during Wednesday's meeting. (He's) not only a community hero. He's a national hero."

After Wednesday's vote, a city spokesperson said the change would take effect in 30 days.

Ramirez's granddaughter hopes it serves as a lasting reminder of Joe Ramirez's legacy.

"That is my hope, is that if they were to see the sign and be like, 'That's really cool. Maybe I want,' you know, 'Maybe I want to do something that would make me worthy of getting a building or a street or something named after me,'" she said.

Several of Ramirez's relatives traveled to Houston to attend Wednesday's vote, in hopes of leaving with something to celebrate.

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