Louis Lianez tells the history of our family in a video interview by Tom, John and David Lianez of Louis J Lianez on  September 3, 2005.

The following is transcribed transcribed by Cardo Lianez of the interview:

I was born in 1924 in Paulding Ohio and my father was Genaro Lianez and my mother was Vincenta Orozco Lianez. They were married her in Paulding. They were people,  survivors of the Revolution of 1916 during Pancho Villa’s, well during the revolution in Mexico in 1916.  My mother and dad escaped from the revolutionists and they came to Texas. From Texas they moved to Michigan and from Michigan they moved to Ohio called Little Mexico.  Which, they were all beet workers and we had a great big plant that was a sugar mill plant where they brought beets, picked tomatoes. They lived in Little Mexico because it was next to the sugar beet factory.  That was in 1924….

Tom: Was that in Paulding Ohio?

Louis: That was in Paulding. We lived there for quite a while. From there we moved to Michigan and from Michigan we moved back to Paulding Ohio. From Paulding we moved to N(indiscernable) Ohio, which I met a baseball player Ned Garver. He was famous at that time. He played for the Detroit Tigers.

I went to school and the first couple of days I didn’t know how to speak English. So they sent me home. The place we lived there was a German woman, we lived on their farm. She found out why they sent me home and she taught me English. I’d go there in the evenings, and she’d hold up an object, a spoon. She would say “spoon” and I would say “spoon.” And, that’s the way I would learn English. Next year, I did start the school.  And that’s how I learned English. By this German farm lady. And from there, let’s see. From there we moved to Venedocia and I went to the York school house. And from Venedocia we moved to Hoaglin Jackson and from Hoaglin Jackson that’s where I met my wife Tonia. We met there at the high school. We were the only three Mexicans there at my high school. It was myself, my Tonia and my sister Celsa. An so far that’s it….

My dad caught asthma. I didn’t go to school for a couple weeks there. The truant officer, his name was Schaeffer (sp) he came to the house to find out why I didn’t go to school. And I took him in the bedroom where my dad was and he had asthma, and I got a hardship leave from school.  I only went to the 5th grade but my sister kept going after that, couple years later we made our our minds and me and my wife got married and from there on our children was. Born.

First there was Manuel, which he made a Navy career. And he had his 30 years in and retired as a Master Chief. Then we had David and he became a teacher the hard way, he, what do you call that, educated himself by working in the kitchens at the college but he did it, he made it. And he became a good teacher as nowadays. And there was my daughter Judy, and she’s going pretty good not bad. She was there for a while, she was a supervisor of a plant but right now she’s looking for a job cause the plant moved out.  And next, lets see, is John and John is working for a company here in Van Wert. And he’s doing good. He’s put his time in the Navy and got discharged and he’s going pretty good. He’s standing on his two feet. And next was Tom. Tom was our youngest. And he also did it the hard way, going to college. He’s also doing very good. He’s educated himself. I’m very proud of my kids, because they’re doing good. Their good citizens and that’s about it.

Tom: Dad, how about our last name? How did we end up with Lianez? That wasn’t what we originally started with was it?

Louis: No, our last name was Yañez. But the teacher, because the “Y” in Spanish looks like a double “L”  and she couldn’t figure it out so she says “I don’t know this word here, “ I told it was “Yañez” but she put an “L” in it. And that’s how we are the first Lianez family and according to history uh, my whole family and when I went to Columbus for my birth certificate so I could get my social security I found my name wasn’t “Louis” it was Juan Lianez. So they asked me what do you like to be known as, I said I’d like to be known as Louis Lianez, because all my papers, my military papers, my discharge papers and everything that I owned was in the name of Lianez. So they changed it Lianez. And that’s how it became the Lianez family.

Tom: So you’ve got a sister and step-sister?

Louis: Oh yeah, had a stepsister and her name is Juanita Barrientos and she had a very large family. And so far, as I’ve heard, they are doing very very good. She had nine children. We had one here, that his name is Bob Barrientos, he’s got medals from France and the United States, and he’s passed away. He’s buried out here in (indiscernible) cemetery next to his mother. 

Tom: Ok so she’s your step sister on your mother’s side?

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