EL PASO, Texas – Hector Serrano, an El Paso teacher and artist who created the “Viva! El Paso” production that told the El Paso region’s history in song and dance and drew tens of thousands of visitors each year, died on Christmas Eve, his friend Ouisa Davis said.
Serrano, 83, left on a Caribbean cruise on Sunday and died of a heart attack on the ship on Tuesday, said Davis, an El Paso attorney and dance teacher.
“He gave El Paso a sense of history it lacked. One of the most important things to him was that he wanted people to understand how we came to be this binational community, and to love and respect that, and to give us a sense of pride in who we were,” Davis said.
No arrangements have been made and his body is in Jamaica, she said.
Serrano was traveling with his longtime friend and collaborator David Mills and Mills’ family, Davis said. She asked that friends not text or call Mills while he’s making arrangements.
Serrano was a longtime educator, teaching high school and at El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso.
He was a creative force behind numerous theatrical productions but was best known for creating “Viva! El Paso”, a musical pageant that told the multicultural history of the El Paso region and was staged at the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater. Serrano created the production in 1978 and was its creative leader until 2002.
Greg Taylor, who founded the UTEP Dinner Theater in 1983, said Serrano leaves a huge legacy for performers and audiences.
“Hector Serrano leaves a lasting legacy in El Paso through the vast number of artists he taught and mentored throughout his life,” Taylor said in a post on Facebook. “El Paso audiences were entertained and enlightened by his many achievements as a director and creator and they will continue to benefit artistically through the work of the students and artists he trained and inspired.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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