On 21 December, the Valley suffered a tremendous loss. Dr. Gary Mounce, who taught thousands of students in his many years as a Political Science Professor at Pan American University (now the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) died after a painful illness. He will be sorely missed by those of us who knew him well.
I met Gary in the early 1981. I began teaching at Pan Am in August 1980, but Gary was teaching as a guest professor at a university in Mexico. Gary’s area of specialization was Latin American Politics and Government.
It was the begining of the 1981 fall semester. I was sitting in my office when Gary walked in and introduced himself. Colleagues in my department had told me about Gary and that he was a great guy who loved teaching and loved his students. We became good friends.
He quickly became one of my best friends ever. We made numerous trips to Mexico, which he loved beyond description. Most were just across the border to Reynosa, usually for lunch or dinner at an excellent restaurant we both liked very much.
But there were excursions deep into Mexico, to Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta and several other very interesting places. Gary knew the history and the significant landmarks of each place we went. He was a fountain of knowledge.
Back in the Valley we fell into a routine of meeting with students every Friday afternoon at the Pizza Hut across the street from the University. Over pitchers of beer and occasional pizzas, we had friendly, casual and sometimes very serious conversations with those students who came. It was great fun meeting with students informally and getting to know them personally. We both developed friendships that survive even now. Neither of us liked being formal, stuffy professors who maintained distance from their students.
As former students became aware of Gary’s death, several emailed me to talk about him, how great he was, and how sad they are to lose him. I shared their grief. The Monday after his death, I was a total wreck. I grieved hard all day and barely slept for two nights. That is how dear Gary was and is to me.
In addition to travels in Mexico and Friday lunches at Pizza Hut, I often visited Gary in his home. We had lengthy, serious conversations about U.S. foreign policy, particularly in Latin America, and U.S. politics in general.
Although our political ideologies were significantly different, we almost always were in basic agreement as to the problems our nation faced, the direction we were going, and what needed to be done to resolve problems and injustices.
Gary was very egalitarian and saw everyone as inherently equal. He always treated people with dignity and respect, even those whom he did not particularly like or with whom he had major differences. He was a truly good man.
Gary is survived by his wife, Malena, his two children, Victoria and Joey. He was a good, loving husband and a good, loving father.
There have been so many times since we lost him I have thought “I need to talk to Gary about this”. We would be having very serious conversations about the capture of Venezuela’s President Maduro and the implications for the region. Sadly, he is not here for those conversations, and that is very painful for me. I am sure his loss is painful for many people.
Gary, you are missed.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Samuel Freeman, a writer and researcher, Viet Nam Veteran, and former university professor. The column appears in the Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the author. Freeman can be reached by email via: srfree1542@icloud.com
