Grandma Camacho

Lorraine Camacho became widely known as Grandma Camacho in the Metz family for her grand-motherly spirit she carried as she walked alongside children, parents, teachers, and countless community members. Her legacy as a matriarchal pillar of the school and the East Austin community goes above and beyond recognition. She is celebrated and remembered for her words of wisdom, her love for the community, and her intentional drive to bring people together and foster peace within the neighborhood. 

Metz teacher Lupe Ramos puts it this way:

"Grandma Camacho was everybody's grandma...She taught us a lot of things. We learned a lot from her, families learned from her, other parents learned from her. She was just a grandma- everybody's grandma. We always just respected her. We respected what she said. When there were issues, when there was a group opposing another group, Grandma Camacho would be the one in the middle helping us see the value of what we all had to offer. It was really nice, she kind of was the mediator. She traveled with us when we were at Webb, in the bus with the children. All the way to Webb she would go, and then she would come right back... She really was very important in our community for many years."

Of all items in the Metz Elementary School Archive, the Lorraine Castro Camacho Family Scrapbook is by far the most compelling and insightful treasure-trove of memories tracing Grandma Camacho's familial footprints. Highliting her family and relatives, her political activism, and the wide-spread recognition for her service and sacrifice as a community volunteer, this scrapbook tells the story of the beloved grandmother to all who constant sought to better the world around her.

Grandma Chacho's sister, Lucille Camacho. See more fascinating artifacts from this time period by checking out the Metz Through the Decades Exhibit.

Pictured above are Grandma Camacho's daughters Dolly and Darlene

Today, Grandma Camacho is memorialized through the Lorraine "Grandma" Camacho Activity Center, an outdoor adventure hub in Austin "dedicated to providing quality outdoor recreation, nature-based education, and cultural art programs to youth, teens, and adults."