1. Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, born with the family name Rodriguez, was an American restaurateur from Houston, Texas, who founded the restaurant Ninfa's.
17 Facts About Ninfa Laurenzo
1. 2.
Ninfa Laurenzo Rodriguez, a Mexican-American Catholic, was born on May 11,1924, in Harlingen, Texas.
3.
Ninfa Laurenzo graduated from Henrietta M King High School in Kingsville and Durhan Business School in Harlingen.
4.
Ninfa Laurenzo's factory was in trouble due to increased competition and decreased profit margins.
5.
In 1973 Ninfa Laurenzo opened a 10 table restaurant in front of her tortilla factory in order to financially stay afloat.
6.
The restaurant, Ninfa Laurenzo's, became very popular and it became her core business.
7.
Ninfa Laurenzo had developed Diego's, a fast food takeout restaurant that specialized in soft tacos.
8.
The Ninfa Laurenzo family hoped that the increasing trend of carry-out food would help the Bambolino's success.
9.
Ninfa Laurenzo sat on the boards of several foundations and organizations.
10.
Ninfa Laurenzo was a founding board member, in 1970, for the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans.
11.
Ninfa Laurenzo's children said that this was the proudest moment in her life.
12.
Ninfa Laurenzo led the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening session of the 1992 Republican National Convention on August 17,1992.
13.
Ninfa Laurenzo served as the key note speaker of a cancer forum, giving a speech to 2,000 people.
14.
Ninfa Laurenzo died of bone cancer at the age of 77, on Sunday June 17,2001.
15.
In 1988 Ninfa Laurenzo was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.
16.
Ninfa Laurenzo received the Humanitarian Award of the Arthritis Foundation, the "Women in Foodservice Pacesetter's Award" of the Roundtable for Women in Foodservice, and the "Business Recognition Award" of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
17.
Gino Ninfa Laurenzo operates Rio Grande Tex-Mex Grill in Washington Mills, New York.