CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 A Marine Corps veteran who asked for no birthday gifts this year received something far more meaningful when the community came together to fulfill his only wish. He simply wanted to see his family reunited while he still could.<\/p>\n
Pablo Ramirez, who served during the Korean War, turns 92 on December 10, 2025. He is the last surviving sibling among four brothers and two sisters, a reality his family says makes every moment with him increasingly precious.<\/p>\n
His niece, Charlotte Espinoza, said her uncle rarely talks about his service but remains deeply loved. \u201cWe thank him for what he\u2019s done for our country and for us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll his family is gone, and all he has is us,\u201d said Irma Ramirez, Pablo\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n
As Ramirez\u2019s birthday approached, Espinoza asked him what he wanted. She expected the answer to be modest, but she didn\u2019t expect it to be emotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018I don\u2019t need anything. I only wish to get together to see my siblings\u2019 kids before anything happens,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
Finding an affordable venue large enough for dozens of relatives traveling from across Texas proved difficult. Event spaces quoted prices of hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n
Irma said, \u201cyou can\u2019t go to a room with a big gathering for less than a $1,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Espinoza messaged KRIS 6 Sunrise Anchor Michelle Hofmann. Her message led to a collaboration between Mind Your Business Success Agency and Sal\u2019s Bronx Pizza, whose co-owner, Kris Tovar, immediately offered space for the gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was a vet, so we\u2019re always eager to give back to our veterans and everyone else in this community,\u201d Tovar said.<\/p>\n
When the family arrived for the celebration, Pablo was greeted with applause, hugs from relatives he hadn\u2019t seen in years and some he had never met. Even his late sister\u2019s husband, Felix Esquivel, attended.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a friend, more than a friend for over 70 years,\u201d Esquivel said. \u201cOnce a brother-in-law, always a brother-in-law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The celebration became not just a birthday party but a full family reunion, honoring not just Pablo and his service, but the legacy of an entire generation of siblings he now represents.<\/p>\n
Espinoza expressed gratitude to KRIS 6 News, Sal\u2019s Bronx Pizza, and Mind Your Business Success Agency. For her, the event was a reminder of what matters most during the holiday season, including the simple moments of togetherness, acts of kindness, and gestures of love that bring people together.<\/p>\n
More Veterans In Focus stories are available here,<\/a> along with resources<\/a> for local veterans. <\/p>\n Contact Veterans In Focus reporter Michelle Hofmann at michelle.lorenzo@kristv.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 A Marine Corps veteran who asked for no birthday gifts this year received something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[27407,155,157,156,39689,2786,39690],"class_list":{"0":"post-81874","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-birthday","9":"tag-corpus-christi","10":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","11":"tag-corpus-christi-news","12":"tag-gift","13":"tag-holiday","14":"tag-marine-corps-veteran"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}