Families make their marks in music, business
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Roman Martinez, Sr. |
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The Hometown Boys
The Grammy-award winning Hometown Boys are not the only Hispanic band to come from Lubbock, but they’re probably the best known and the first Hispanics inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame.
Roman Martinez Sr. came to Lubbock in 1963 and eventually formed El Grupo Internacional, featuring members of Roman and his wife, Dolores’, family.
Eventually the band became The Hometown Boys, featuring Ricky on bass guitar and lead voice; Jesse, drums; Joe, accordion and second voice; Roman Sr., bajo sexto, and Roman Jr., sound engineer.
The story of the Lubbock-based band is one of great success and tragedy. From 1997-2007, Roman Jr., Joe, Jesse and Ricky have all passed away.
Roman Sr. is still very involved with the band and has been joined by son Bobby, daughter Rosalinda, cousin Stevan Martinez and others.
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B.R. “Rip” Griffin
1929 - present
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Mark Griffin
1954 - present
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From the humble beginnings of a three-pump gasoline station on Avenue A, the Griffins — father and son — established a nationwide chain of upscale truck stops that cater to the “modern trucker.”
“Truck drivers are civilized, good people … fine family men bringing us grapefruit out of the valley and tomatoes from Nogales. Truckers, today, are more sophisticated, more prone to niceties,” Rip Griffin said in a 1987 interview.
The father and son built a multimillion dollar company from the travel centers, petroleum and gas ventures, construction and myriad other enterprises.
And they both have given to their home community. Rip Griffin is the namesake of LCU’s arena and served several terms as a university trustee.
Similarly, Mark has left his imprint with community service, including Lubbock school board president and now as Texas Tech regent.
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