Raul Hector Castro | Ex-Ariz. governor, 98

Raul Hector Castro, 98, Arizona's only Hispanic governor and an American ambassador to three countries, died Friday in San Diego, where he was in hospice care, family spokesman James Garcia said.

Mr. Castro grew up in Arizona, the second-youngest of 12 children. His father, a union leader forced out of Mexico for organizing a mine strike died when Mr. Castro was 12, and his mother became a midwife to feed the family. She delivered babies in exchange for flower, corn, beans, and other staples.

Education was the best way out, Mr. Castro determined, and he went on to graduate from law school. He served as U.S. ambassador to three Latin American countries, and was a county attorney and a judge.

Mr. Castro spent his waning years living in Nogales and talking to students around the state. - AP