American Cesar

In 2003, Cesar Lopez served a year in Iraq as a U.S. Army officer.

On Friday, the West Point alumnus will fly to Afghanistan for a 12-month deployment as a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Reserves.

Lopez, 36, Clarks Summit, was born in Los Angeles. When he was 8, his parents returned to their farmland in north-central Mexico with their American-born children. They re-immigrated to the U.S. when Lopez was 12.

During those four years, the young boy worked on his parents' guava orchard. They also grew other crops: corn, tomatoes, chiles.

He said the time spent in Mexico "gave me an appreciation for sense of worth ... how hard it is to come by things."

Even though his family had lived in a poor section of Los Angeles, they had electricity, running water and other utilities. They had electricity and well water in Mexico, but much of that country does not.

They returned to their former neighborhood in Los Angeles. Lopez did well in high school. He entered UCLA but didn't like it. "I was young and naive," he said.

An older brother was in the U.S. Marines. Lopez quit school, enlisted in the Army and then told his parents.

His parents were a little sad, he said. His father asked him to pursue his education when that became possible. "I gave him my word," Lopez said.

"I had never heard of the U.S. military academies until I enlisted," he said. A captain encouraged him to apply to the U.S. Army Academy's preparatory school from within the Army. The prep school is now at West Point but at the time it was at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

"It takes a lot of desire and hard work," he said. "If you're willing to put in the time and hard work, there are dedicated professionals there that make sure you receive the help."

West Point is the Army's engineering school, but there are opportunities for attaining degrees such as in economics, English and science. "You can choose from logistics to combat arms to judge advocate - you name it," he said. "Granted, it's based on class rank."

He graduated with a civil engineering degree as a commissioned officer with the Army's Corps of Engineers.

He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, with the 70th Engineering Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, and was deployed to Iraq.

While he had never been there before, he saw familiar sights - people living without electricity and running water. "This is really Mexico but the people speak a different language," he said he thought. "It gives you an appreciation."

After he returned from Iraq in 2004, he left active service, worked at Aecom in Houston, Texas, and obtained his master's degree in business administration.

His wife, Cathleen, is from Lancaster, Pa., and had wanted to be closer to her parents.

Cesar joined the Army Corps of Engineers' field office in Tobyhanna and the Lopez family moved to Clarks Summit in September 2009.

Cathleen and Cesar married in 1999. They met through her brother, who was an economics professor at West Point and is now stationed in Afghanistan.

Their children are: Alyssa, 11, entering sixth grade at Abington Heights Middle School (AHMS); Thomas, 10, going into fifth grade at AHMS; and Isabel, 5, entering kindergarden at Our Lady of Peace School.

When a Clarks Summit opening appeared on the Abington Regional Wastewater Authority (formerly the Clarks Summit-South Abington Joint Sewer Authority), Lopez applied.

Virginia Kehoe, Clarks Summit Borough manager, said by email: "He is incredibly rounded and personable, an asset to the sewer authority and a great volunteer to the community."

"I appreciate the opportunity they gave me to serve the community," he said. He believes in active community involvement. "I think that's important," he said.

He said he told borough council members when they appointed him that there was nothing altruistic about his volunteering for the authority. "I want this to be a better place for my kids," he said.

"We feel we've been welcomed in this community. We feel at home here."

* * *

Lopez left last weekend for the U.S. Corps of Engineers' headquarters in Winchester, Va., for several days of debriefing. He expects to fly to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, Aug. 5, and then catch another flight to Afghanistan. Once there, he anticipates his work will involve reconstruction of the infrastructure as well as building schools, military barracks and other construction projects.

During the 12-month deployment, he hopes to have two leaves to return home.

"It is what it is," Cathleen said. "We'll make the best of it."

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