Sator "Sandy" Sanchez and the Mexican Community of Joliet

Riding up Collins Street toward Sator Sanchez Elementary School, the signs call out to you in Spanish: “Carniceria Rio Grande,” “La Villita Party and Flowers,” “Botanica Dos Soles Y Una Luna.” Arriving at Sator Sanchez Elementary reveals that it is not, by itself, a noteworthy building. And the name—not the more familiar “Lincoln,” or “Roosevelt” or “Obama”—may not be recognizable to all. So who was Sator Sanchez?

Technical Sargeant Sator “Sandy” Sanchez was among the most heroic and decorated airmen of World War II. His valor—as an aircraft technician and, later, in combat—has earned him a prominent place in the chronicles of the U.S. military and in the history of Joliet.

Sanchez was born Satero Sierra in Joliet in 1921 to parents who had immigrated from Mexico. [1] By that time, Joliet had a growing Mexican community; railroads crisscrossed the city, and in the early 20th century, Mexican immigrants had begun arriving in Joliet to work as traqueros—seasonal laborers that constructed, repaired and maintained railroad tracks. While most traqueros lived and worked in the Southwest of the United States, the railroad transported thousands of Mexican laborers to work throughout the Midwest. [2]

The first traqueros arrived in Joliet in 1905, but they were transient, arriving with the warm weather and leaving with the cold. The first permanent Mexican settlers in Joliet arrived in 1914. [3] In his history of Joliet’s Mexican community, Navor Rodriguez—who immigrated from Guanajuato, Mexico, and settled in Joliet in the 1920s—recorded (in Spanish, translated to English below) the founding families:

"Así pasaron algunos años hasta que en 1914, época en que fué más crecido el número de migrantes, muchos de ellos se quedaron y sus familias vinieron a establecerse con ellos. Agrupándose estas familias mexicanas originaron lo que ahora conocemos con el nombre de Colonia Mexicana de Joliet. Las primeras familias permanentes que aquí se registraron fueron: la familia Sánchez, la familia Orozco, la familia Elizalde y la familia Rivera. Más tarde también la familia Quiroz.”

"A few years would pass until in 1914, a time when the number of migrants increased, many of them stayed and their families came to settle with them. These Mexican families came together to found what is now known by the name Mexican Colony of Joliet. The first permanent families to be registered here were the Sanchez family, Orozco family, Elizalde family, and Rivera family. Later on, there was also the Quiroz family.” [4]

By the time Sanchez was born, the community was large enough to hold parades for Mexican Independence Day and sustain multiple social and civic organizations. [5]

Sadly, Sanchez was orphaned before his 10th birthday. His stepmother, Joquina, raised him along with her parents, Fidencio and Belen Sanchez, who basically adopted him. He would also take their last name. [6] Fidencio and Belen had immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1894—according to the 1930 census—though it’s likely they first stopped in New Mexico, where the census records that Joquina was born. Fidencio worked on the railroad, possibly the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railroad, whose tracks ran just across the street from their home on Cleveland Avenue. [7]

In 1932, the Chicago Archdiocese established the Holy Name Technical School (now known as Lewis University) 6 miles north of Sanchez’s step-grandparent’s home. The school’s special emphasis was aviation instruction, and Sanchez would walk or bike to the school’s runway and spend hours watching the student pilots fly. [8] This inspired him to join the military in 1939, though it was not until 1941 that he transferred from infantry to the Army Air Corps and became an aircraft mechanic and inspector. [9]