Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photographs by Vicki Thompson

On the Beat: San Jose police officer Francisco Ordaz watches over the Willow Glen High School campus. The San Jose Police Department has a small substation on site. Students will come into the office to talk to him when things get tough.

Rite of Passage

Officer is there for Willow Glen High teens

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

Growing up has its share of trials and tribulations, but Francisco Ordaz tells the students he works with that nothing is as bad as it seems.

Ordaz is an on-campus San Jose Police Department officer at Willow Glen High School. In February he marked his 10th year with the police department and his third year at the high school.

"Kids are going through a weird stage of life, trying to fit in and having to deal with their differences and problems at home," Ordaz says.

He says one of his worst days on the job was when he arrived at the home of a 13-year-old girl living in East San Jose.

"She had hung herself from the rafters of her garage," Ordaz says. "All because she felt like she didn't fit in and was self-conscious about her weight. When the kids come in and tell me about their problems and say that life sucks, I tell them, 'Trust me, life does not suck. These things are little and will pass.' "

Ordaz feels a direct connection with many of the students who come through his office. He too, remembers what it was like, more than most students expect.

"No matter what background, they are always shocked when they hear about mine," Ordaz says. "They think we grew up with a silver spoon in our mouths. I tell them where I lived, and their eyes light up. I tell them I understand and they believe me."

Ordaz not only graduated from the local high school in 1989, he grew up just outside of Willow Glen in the cannery workers' neighborhoods in the Washington District.

The 35-year-old had always wanted to become a police officer, but the road to this dream wasn't always an easy one.

"I was dirt poor," Ordaz says. "We had nothing growing up, but it challenged me to be better, to succeed in life."

Ordaz says that the area you come from doesn't dictate who you become later in life.

He was one of six children, the youngest and the only son. Single mother Josefina Garcia raised her large family by working at local canneries.

"My mom had a third-grade education, and she worked where she could," he says.

The family struggled to make ends meet. When there was no food, the family would go to Sacred Heart Community Service. When there was little money, the rent took priority over everything. When the children outgrew their clothes, the family would go to the San Jose Flea Market.

Ordaz grew up on W. Virginia Street. When it was time to go to high school, Ordaz's friends were bused to Lincoln High School, but he lived on the border and was sent to Willow Glen High School.

The experience helped keep Ordaz on a straight path, he says.

"I got in a lot less trouble," he says. "I would go to school and come straight home and do my homework."

After graduating, Ordaz attended San Jose City College as an engineering student and excelled.

"But the more and more math and science I took, the more bored I became with the subject," Ordaz says. "I started to hate going to class."

During this time he considered changing career paths and moving into law enforcement.

While in college, Ordaz had a few run-ins with police officers.

"It left a bad taste in my mouth and turned me off to becoming a police officer for a while," Ordaz says.

So Ordaz continued with engineering and applied to transfer to San Jose State University.

"I received an offer letter, but I never filled out the paperwork and let things slip by," he says. "I was 24 years old and lost."

It took a barber's chair to sway Ordaz back into the idea of being a police officer.

Vince Alvarez, Ordaz's childhood friend, who also wanted to become a police officer, knew a barbershop where the two could get in contact with other police officers.

"We went to Bob Paez, a barber who's now located on Lincoln Avenue in the Garden Theater," Ordaz says. "I spoke to him about wanting to be a police officer, and he put me in contact with them."

Ordaz met a few of police officers who frequented the barber and went on a ride-along with one. His passion for police work was reignited.

"He was a nice young man trying to find a niche for himself," says Paez, Ordaz's barber. "I talked to him about the police department and guided him."

Paez says Ordaz is a professional at what he does and loves every minute of it.

"Francisco knows both sides of the fence," Paez says. "He knows how to learn and listen to someone with the same kind of problems he faced growing up."

Paez says that the biggest issue for young adults is the lack of a role model.

"If you don't have someone to listen, to admire, you will become lost and confused," Paez says.

Ten years later, Ordaz still comes in every Wednesday to get "cleaned up" by Paez.

Four years after their initial meeting, however, the two found themselves sharing something that once again changed Ordaz's view of life.

"I was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 28," Ordaz says. "It was a blessing in disguise. It made me appreciate everything more."

Ordaz's cancer has been in remission for seven years, but he has learned to live life a bit differently.

"Every day, I realize it is a great day," Ordaz says, "because I woke up today. It's the little pleasures in life that matter. I feel extremely blessed."

It's this frame of mind that Ordaz brings to work and shares with the students he encounters on a day-to-day basis.

"I tell the kids to never blame anyone for their shortfalls or their failures," Ordaz says. "I tell them that they are in the few places where they can do whatever they want. Just remember that all work is honorable work."

This frankness is one of the things that sets Ordaz apart, says Willow Glen High School vice principal Al Gallegos.

"He talks to the kids, not down to him," Gallegos says. "He's one of the few officers that I know that takes the time to counsel kids. He sits back there with them, gets to the bottom of the issues, gives advice, helps with goal-setting and uses his life to help motivate the kids. They like him because he takes the time to get to know him."

Ordaz stresses to the students that education buys many things.

"I tell them, invite me to your graduation, regardless of what school it's from, and I will take it as an honor," he says, "but never forget who you are, what you are and where you came from."