As the hearse pulled away from St. Patrick’s Cathedral carrying the casket of retired FBI Special Agent Julio César Cordero, his family members and friends gathered on a nearby sidewalk and reminisced.
The mood was heavy. They watched as the hearse disappeared down Arizona Avenue in El Paso struggling to contain their grief. Family members and loved ones huddled together and wept. Lifelong friends recalled childhood memories.
Emma Castanares, a cousin of Cordero, could hardly muster words through her tears.
“I love him so much,” she said in Spanish. “He was a great man.”
Cordero was remembered as a father, a special relative and a public servant who had a significant impact on El Paso through his work with a badge and a gun.
Cordero’s funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral — one of El Paso’s historical landmarks Downtown — was celebrated out of the public eye Sept. 13 with family, friends and his FBI family. Local reporters worked across the street to record the passing of a special law enforcement agent.