Tyrone Guzman, Latino leader and visionary in the Twin Cities

Tyrone Guzman was more than a man with dreams. He was a man who made his dreams come true, and in the process made life better for the Twin Cities Latino community.

When he became executive director of Centro Cultural Chicano 13 years ago, he saw limitless possibilities for the struggling social service agency in south Minneapolis. And under his leadership, the operation was turned around financially and moved from rented quarters on Nicollet Mall to its own building on Chicago Avenue.

Guzman also expanded its scope of offerings to include a wide range of programs: adult literacy, truancy prevention programs, health and wellness workshops, seminars for seniors and dance classes and music for youth, which now serve 30,000 people annually.

"He was a dreamer who could turn them into reality," said Marlon Ferrey, director of Centro Cultural's information center. "He was very good at selling dreams to funders and making people believers. He always said, 'Don't ever think you have to settle for second best; go for the best.' He'd say, 'Think big and you will do it,' and not to settle for mediocre because that is all you can afford."

Guzman died of colon cancer June 30 at his home in Little Canada. He was 50.

He was born in St. Paul and graduated in the late 1970s from Harding High School. His passion to improve the well-being of the Latino community was born while he studied law and was president of the former Hispanic Student Association at Macalester College in St. Paul, said his daughter, Raquel, of Little Canada.

Guzman also studied at St. Paul's William Mitchell College of Law and graduated from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Executive Education Program.

Guzman's strengths included building relationships and networking, Raquel said. He used those abilities to persuade organizations such as the United Way to fund Centro's programs, and to build trust in the community by putting on neighborhood celebrations, those who knew him said.

"He was a very good listener and paid attention to people," Raquel said. "He genuinely cared."

Guzman supported the arts and in recent years filled Centro Cultural Chicano with art works and started dance and music classes for young people, Ferrey said. He was a gifted woodcarver and made a large cross that now hangs in Centro's chapel, his daughter said.

Guzman's desire to ensure that Latino students remained in school and received a quality education led him to co-found Aurora Charter School, a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school in Minneapolis serving 329 students, said Cheryl Avina, its executive director and co-founder.

Guzman rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in his younger days and liked to travel, especially to Mexico, his daughter said.

In addition to his daughter, Guzman is survived by his wife, Osiris; a son, Francisco, of St. Paul; his father, Gregory, of St. Paul; a sister, Deborah Guzman, of St. Paul, and two brothers, Greg and Keith, both of St. Paul.

Services have been held.