Ozzie Garza
It was the beautiful sanctuary, the uplifting music and the friendliness and diversity of the people that attracted my wife, Sandy, and me to this church in 1999. Since becoming a church member I have served as an usher, a deacon and was also a member of the pastoral search committee that selected the Rev. Rob McClelland to be the church’s pastor.
I moved to Arlington, Texas from Arlington, Virginia having lived in the Washington, D.C. area for nearly 30 years. During that time I worked for two of the three branches of government. I was a press secretary to a Member of Congress and was also a public affairs officer at three Cabinet Departments, the last one being the Department of Veterans Affairs.
My life journey began in Texas City. I was born there in 1947, two months before the Texas City explosion, considered the largest industrial disaster in the country. It killed more than 500 people including my father and injured thousands including my sister and brother. My widowed Mom
moved us to the South Texas town of McAllen to be near family. It was there that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and was baptized in the Baptist church.
Later I received my journalism degree from North Texas State University prior to being drafted into the U. S. Army and assigned to the Military District of Washington. It was there that I saw my first Major League game. The team I saw play were the WashingtonSenators who would later become the Texas Rangers. I now write for the Texas Rangers Magazine and other publications. I also am a substitute teacher for the Arlington Independent School District in addition to being a Tarrant County poll worker.