. Ladislao Lopez, was born in El Arenal, Zacatecas, Mexico, in the spring of 1875. He is the son of Atanacio Lopez.

El Arenal is a small village located about three miles from the bigger city of Sombrerete. It was in Sombrerete, that, the church was located, and therefore, Ladislao would have been baptized and married in Sombrerete.

His family was very poor and they made a living by planting and growing corn, beans, potatoes and other vegetables. In the due course of time, Ladislao did marry. He was very fortunate, in that, he married a wonderful girl from Sain, by the name of Lorenza Ramirez. Their first child, Celestino, was born on April 6^th, 1900. Subsequently, three other children were born, their names were: Piedad, Juanita, and Ladislao. They immigrated to the United States during the Mexican Revolution of 1912. He arrived in El Paso, Texas with his wife, two daughters and two sons.

There, they remained for about ten years. While in El Paso, their eldest son, Celestino, married Ygnacia Cardenas and moved to Sacramento, California.

In 1927, Ladislao chose to remain in El Paso, while his son Ladislao took Lorenza and Juanita to Sacramento. A few years later, Ladislao joined his family in California.

When he died of a heard attack in 1944, the Mexican community of Sacramento lost a great musician, and artist, and a great conversationalist.

Ladislao Lopez was known to everyone as "Don Lalo". He was highly respected and admired by everyone in the community. He taught himself to read. He read every single book, magazine, and newspaper that came to his hands. He was well informed in current affairs. His conversations always dealt with important statements, and world affairs. He had a gift for telling stories and jokes. After dinner he kept his guest royally entertained with stories about his boyhood experiences, war stories, or just about people and their situations. "Don Lalo" had a great sense of humor. He never missed a chance to relate a story or a joke to fit the occasion, and his listeners. It didn't matter how many times one heard the stories; they always enjoyed them. His voice and gestures added color and excitement to his stories.

As a musician, Don Lalo was truly the greatest. His most treasured possession was a huge harp that he had brought with him from Mexico. On this harp he could play all types of music, including wonderful polkas. Among other instruments he played were the violin, guitar, and the banjo. Don Lalo's three older brothers were also musicians. When the three brothers went out to work, in the fields, Don Lalo would stay home and learn how to play all his instruments. He learned to play by ear. He then could play all the popular music, not yet available. He was asked to play all kinds of "fiestas". Don Lalo played at weddings, baptismals, and other religious ceremonies. May was the month of "Our Blessed Mother Mary". Throughout the month Don Lalo would sing the hymns Catholics are used to singing, after each decade of Hail Marys when praying the rosary. A great number of people from the community attended just to hear him play and sing.

Don Lalo was a artistically talented. He could carve beautiful figures out of wood. He could make toys, and games for his grandchildren. Many of these toys with moving parts, painted with bright colors. He could also make furniture devices, like: Shelves, tables, and chairs. His most fascinating works was the repairing of musical instruments. Don Lalo made his instrumental parts by cutting and bending them to fit his instrumental needs exactly as he wanted them to fit. Knowing that he was the only man in town who could fix their violins and guitars, his friends used to bring him their musical instruments.

Every winter his harp would warp, in different places, because of the moist surroundings. Don Lalo would take the damaged parts out and proceed to carve, bend, and mold new ones. Sometimes this job would take many days, because he first had to wet the wood to be bent, and then let dry. Repeating this procedure until it was just right always required time and patience. It was sad to see his harp all taken apart. When he finished gluing it all together again, it looked as if new, and sounded as if new as well.

According to some of his grandchildren, Don Lalo was one of the most knowledgeable and creative persons that they had ever known. And were very fortunate to have known and experienced his greatness with all those who knew him.