JOE CABRAL
Class of 1955
Inducted in 2012 & 2016 |
Joe was inducted into the SHSAA Hall of Fame in 2012 and awarded the Contributor Award in 2016 at the Packer Sports Greats banquet.
Joe Cabral retired after 37 years as a Facilities Engineer for the Omaha District, US Postal Service. He attended many career-related industrial training courses over the years. After retirement he was employed as a project manager for an architectural firm to make Post Offices handicap accessible in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. He has been very involved with the GI Forum in South Omaha, including chairing the building expansion, starting a golf outing to raise scholarship funds for area high schools, and starting the Mariachi San Juan band (which plays without charge for charity events.). He served on the Omaha Softball Hall of Fame Board in 1986 and is a member of the Knights of Columbus where he participates in fundraisers every year. He has also served on the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award Board. In 2006 Joe received the Governor’s Heritage Award for civic contributions in the field of Hispanic music and culture, and other awards from the Hispanic community as well as Postal service awards. Joe was inducted into the Mexican American Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1987. While at South, when Coach Collin told Joe he was too small for football, he advised him to join the band instead. Joe did and went on to play first chair trumpet in the All-City Band in his senior year. Music has been a big part of his life for over 40 years. He played basketball for several years, and played softball as shortstop for the Omaha Royals. He loved the game and went on to coach the Omaha Diablos softball team for many seasons. He started golfing in the 1990s and he and his wife are avid golfers. Joe said graduating from SHS was the best time of his life as that is where he met his future wife, Mary Fahey-1955. The teachers gave him the education and music skills to continue on his life’s path. Many classmates are still life-long friends. He is proud and pleased with the improvements at SHS, both the building and the sports facilities. He said the old song comes to mind “South High will shine tonight, South High will shine!” |