Notable People
Born in Laredo
Domingo Arechiga (1926-1987), president from 1974 to 1985 of Laredo Community CollegePeter Arguindegui (1931-2014), oilman and former member of the Laredo City Council
Charles Robert Borchers (1943-1997), district attorney of the 49th Judicial District attorney 1973-1980; UISD board president, 1986-1991
Louis H. Bruni (born 1949), businessman; former Webb County county judge and former member of the Laredo City Council
Esther Buckley (1948-2013), member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1983 to 1992; Laredo educator
Kaleb Canales (born 1978), assistant coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association
David Barkley-Cantu, first Mexican-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor
Pedro "Pete" Astudillo, composer
Freddie Benavides, former professional baseball player
Santos Benavides, Confederate States of America colonel
Orlando Canizales, professional boxer, Career W 50 L 5 D 1
Francisco G. Cigarroa, chancellor of University of Texas System
Henry R. Cuellar, Democrat U.S. Representative from Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005, former Texas Secretary of State (2001) and state representative (1987-2001)
Tony Dalton, actor and screenwriter
Tom DeLay, former U.S. Representative for Texas' 22nd congressional district, former House Majority Leader, Republican from Sugar Land, Texas
Ramón H. Dovalina (born 1943), educator; president of Laredo Community College from 1995 to 2007
Elma Salinas Ender (born 1953), first Hispanic woman state court judge in Texas; served on the 341st District Court from 1983 until her retirement in 2012
Audrey Esparza, (born 1985), actress
Megan Frazee (born 1987), women's professional basketball player, (2009-)
Betty Flores (born 1944), first woman mayor of Laredo, 1998-2006
Julio A. Garcia (1943-2008), district attorney, 1980-1988
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (born 1973), film and television director
Joe A. Guerra (1934-2010), Laredo businessman; 20-year member of the city council; Republican political activist
William N. "Billy" Hall, Jr. (1940-2002), state representative, county treasurer, civic leader
Armando Hinojosa (born 1944), sculptor, designed Tejano Monument in Austin and "Among Friends There Are No Borders" at the Laredo International Airport
Oscar M. Laurel (1920-2001), state representative, district attorney, member of the National Transportation Safety Board, executive director of the International Good Neighbor Council
Rodney Lewis (born 1954), oil and natural gas industrialist based in San Antonio
Honoré Ligarde (1920-1986), state representative from 1963 to 1973, lawyer, banker, businessman, civic figure
Thomas C. Mann, former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador
Jose C. "Pepe" Martin, Jr. (1913-1998), mayor of Laredo from 1954 to 1978; convicted federal felon popularly known as el patron
Mercurio Martinez, Jr., former Webb County judge and former Laredo city councilman, trustee of Laredo Community College
A. J. Mayers, science fiction and crime novelist
Alicia Dickerson Montemayor, Democratic political activist and educator
George Neel, Jr. (1930-2015), businessman, rancher, community leader
Federico Peña, former mayor of Denver, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Democrat
William Merriweather Peña (1919-2018), architect
Ana Rodriguez (Miss Texas USA) and Miss USA finalist, finished third runner up, 2011
Johnny Rodriguez, Tex-Mex Country singer
Pete Saenz (born 1951), mayor of Laredo since November 12, 2014; former trustee of Laredo Community College and Laredo lawyer
Ezequiel D. Salinas (1908-2007), state district court judge from 1950 to 1974; civil rights activist for Hispanics
Antonio R. "Tony" Sanchez, Jr., oilman and banker, 2002 Democratic nominee for governor of Texas, lost to Rick Perry
Mario Santos, Jr. (1940-2014), Webb County sheriff from 1977 to 1988
José Silva, parapsychologist
Edgar Valdez Villarreal (born 1973), nicknamed La Barbie, Mexican-American drug lord and former leader of Los Negros
Jack Wheeler (1944-2010), co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund; aide to U.S. Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush
Tano Tijerina (born 1974), former professional baseball player and the Webb County County Judge
Gene S. Walker, Sr. (1926-2015), rancher and businessman*Judith Zaffirini (born 1946), Democrat Texas state senator since 1987
Peggy Webber (born 1925), actress
Oscar J. Zuniga (1922-2007), engineer and developer
Other notable residents
W. J. Adkins (1907-1965), founding president of Laredo Community College, 1947-1960Steve Asmussen (born 1965), horse breeder who won three legs of the Triple Crown
Robert L. Bobbitt (1888-1972), politician, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and state attorney general
Norma Elia Cantú (born 1947), Chicana postmodernist writer and a professor of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio
Thomas Haden Church, actor in film Sideways and sitcom Wings
Ruthe B. Cowl (1912-2008), philanthropist
Edmund J. Davis (1827-1883), governor of Texas from 1869 to 1873; resided in Laredo during parts of the 1850s.
Joe B. Finley (1924-2011), rancher, co-founder of United Independent School District
Ray Keck (born 1947), fifth and departing president of Texas A&M International University
Oliver Winfield Killam (1874-1959), Oilman, philanthropist, rancher, former Oklahoma state senator
Radcliffe Killam (1910-2007), rancher, oilman, developer
Ned Kock, information systems professor affiliated with Texas A&M International University
Janet Krueger (born 1953), artist of south Texas ranch life, former professor at Texas A&M International University
Ray A. Laird, president of Laredo Community College, 1960 to 1974
Jack Lanza, ex-professional wrestler, now WWE producer
Rafael A. Lecuona (1928-2014), Cuban-born former Olympic gymnast and retired Texas A&M International University political science professor
Juan L. Maldonado (born 1948), sixth president of Laredo Community College
B.P. Newman (1927-2008), businessman, developer, and philanthropist who originated Chaparral, Vista Hermosa, and Sierra Vista subdivisions
Saul N. Ramirez, Jr., mayor of Laredo from 1990 to 1998
Richard Peña Raymond, state representative from Webb County since 2001; previously represented Duval County
Raul G. Salinas, mayor of Laredo from 2006-2014; native of Alice, Texas
Crispin Sanchez (1924-2008), educator and advocate for Mexican American issues
Aldo Tatangelo (1913-2008), reform mayor of Laredo from 1978 to 1990
Jerry D. Thompson (born 1943), historian affiliated with Texas A&M International University
Vidal M. Treviño (1929-2006), school superintendent and state representative
Jeremy Vuolo, (born 1987), is an American former soccer player for Major League Soccer and the North American Soccer League. He is a pastor and appears on the TLC (TV network) show "Counting On". He is the husband of Jinger Duggar Vuolo (m. 2016).
Robert G. Whitehead (1916-2007), businessman/artist who marketed "Blue Star" first-aid ointment
Roger L. Worsley (born 1937), president of Laredo Community College, 1985 to 1995
Kevin Patrick Yeary (born 1966), Republican member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; born in Cotulla, reared in Laredo, resides in San Antonio