Rooted in family, strengthened through service, and defined by an unwavering work ethic, the story of Melecio Medina embodies perseverance, love, and the enduring impact of a life devoted to excellence. Melecio Medina is a living testament to that legacy. On November 22, 2025, Melecio Medina Sr. celebrated his 100th birthday.
For more than 40 years, he owned and operated Joe Brand Clothing Store at La Plaza Mall, working closely with his family to make it a success. While he may not have been from McAllen, Melecio was a man whom many in business and social circles sought out to help them look their very best.
Melecio, who was born in El Paso, started learning the lessons of hard work and success in his youth at 10, when he began working at his father’s restaurant in Nuevo Laredo. He learned how to cook, how to clean, how to speak to the adults who came to the restaurant, and he learned how to run a business.
Melecio was an intelligent and quick-witted young man, but he was also very humble and very proud. He was especially good with numbers and learned to read and write English before he could speak the language. He worked at his family’s restaurant until 1944, when he received a draft notice in the mail.
“I really didn’t know much about what was going on,” Melecio said. “I knew the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and that Roosevelt had declared war on Germany.”
Melecio was only 18 years old when he went off to war. He was sent to Fort Hood for basic infantry and anti-tank training, followed by advanced instruction at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. From there, he traveled to New Jersey and boarded the Queen Mary bound for England. After a month overseas, he joined the 99th Infantry Division in Belgium, preparing for the Battle of the Bulge. The day before combat, a military priest led Mass under a tree for hundreds of soldiers seeking strength and courage.
At just 19, Melecio entered combat. Using his anti-tank training, he helped repel waves of German Panzer attacks during weeks of brutal fighting. By the end, only four others and he remained. For his courage and service, he received the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, European, African, Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
His division was among the first to cross the Rhine River into Germany, remaining there until the German surrender in May 1945. He was discharged in 1946 and returned home, where he went on to build a remarkable life with his beloved wife, Aurora. Together, they created a lasting family and business legacy with their three children, 11 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Melecio’s children and many of his grandchildren worked with him at the Joe Brand Store, which closed in 2018 after more than 40 years in business in McAllen. His children, Jorge Medina, Melecio Medina Jr., and Josie Martinez, shared their memories of what it was like to work with their father, who taught them so much about life, love, and the blessing of a close and loving family.
The Pursuit of Excellence
Melecio’s first job after the war was with the U.S. Postal Service in 1946. He’d passed the test and applied for the job in Laredo, but was instead offered a job to work at a post office in Chicago. However, the windy city was too cold for him, and he returned to Laredo in 1948. Not long after Melecio returned home, he met the woman who would become his wife of 73 years, Aurora, and found a job at Joe Brand Clothing Store, which would later change his life.
“Joe Brand saw something in me, but I couldn’t figure out what it was,” Melecio said.
His children had heard this story many times, and even if Melecio didn’t know what Joe Brand himself saw, they knew what he’d seen in their dad all those years ago.
“He saw Dad as the son he never had,” said Josie.
Mr. Brand took Melecio under his wing on buying trips to Dallas and New York several times a year, and taught him everything he knew about the retail business. He worked with Joe Brand for eight years, and in 1956, Melecio partnered with two other Joe Brand employees to open the SANDES Men’s Clothing store in Laredo, which was only a block from the Joe Brand Clothing Store.
“I thought Joe Brand was going to kill me when I told him I was leaving,” Melecio said. “He was so mad, and I told him, ‘I want to know more,’ to which Joe Brand replied, ‘I have been teaching you!’”
Melecio followed his gut and helped make SANDES a successful business. At the same time, Melecio was building a solid reputation as a businessman. He became well-known among buyers in New York, Dallas, and Las Vegas, as well as south of the border in Monterrey and Mexico City.
“Dad had a gut feeling that he could make a name for himself, and he was right,” said Josie. Melecio worked at SANDES for 15 years with his associates and managed the store for 10 years.
A Family and Business Legacy
In 1975, Joe Brand and his son-in-law, Seymon Deutsch, met with Melecio about opening and managing a new Joe Brand store in McAllen. Initially, Melecio declined. He wanted a partnership, not a job. Melecio had built a solid reputation as a business leader in Mexico and South Texas, and Joe Brand knew this, too. They agreed that this would be a partnership, and in 1976, Joe Brand Clothing Store opened in La Plaza Mall in McAllen. The new opportunity required Melecio to move his family from Laredo to McAllen. At the time, Jorge was attending dental school, while Melecio Jr. and Josie were still in high school.
In December 1976, Melecio’s youngest son graduated from high school and joined his father as a part-owner of the store. Then, in 1980, after Jorge graduated from dental school, his father persuaded him to join the family business too, for two or three years to learn the business, and he would also become a part-owner with his brother and father, if he chose. Jorge decided to “delay” his dream of becoming an oral surgeon and stayed home to learn the business from the best in the business.
“Two or three years turned out to be the rest of my life, and I never had any regrets,” said Jorge.
Josie, who followed her brothers into the business full-time several years later, had aspired to a nursing career. She was attending college when she ultimately decided to join the family business.
“When Dad approached us and gave us the pros and cons, it was very easy for us to join our father and help him build the family business,” she said. “We knew this was a business that would benefit the entire family. It really wasn’t a difficult decision for any of us.”
Of course, there were serious discussions about the business, and Jorge recalled a conversation he had with his father about bringing in the Lacoste clothing line in the 1980s. Lacoste, known for the tiny alligator logo embroidered on each shirt, was a popular clothing line in the 80s.
“I wanted to bring it into the store, but my brother and father said that was not the type of line we carried,” Jorge said.
They spoke several times about the Lacoste line before his dad stopped and asked him if he really thought adding Lacoste would work. After Jorge reassured him, Melecio gave his son the green light. That was how it always was.
Meanwhile, Melecio Jr. had decided to pursue a degree in medicine, but returned to work at the store with his family. The Joe Brand store in McAllen quickly became a family business, with Josie initially working part-time as a gift wrapper, becoming the manager for the Women’s Department for Joe Brand.
“We spent our entire professional lives there,” she said.
The Joe Brand Influence Across Borders
The Joe Brand name and reputation that was planted in McAllen was spreading to influential people on both sides of the border. Jorge and Melecio Jr. often accompanied their father on buying trips and saw firsthand the influence he had in the clothing industry.
“Everyone held our father in high esteem — and they always said he was the best buyer and the best person running a business on the border from California to Texas. They all said he was a master at what he does on the border,” said Jorge. “Everything we learned about running a business, we learned from our father.”
It was not uncommon, said Josie, for the Mexican elite to travel first from the interior of Mexico to Joe Brand to see their father and shop at their store. Many of them were political office holders or held high positions in Mexico.
“These people were very wealthy and owned every sort of industry in Mexico,” she said, adding that these high-end clients trusted his judgment and often had him choose the suits and accessories. “People came to us to buy the suits, the shirts, the belts, shoes, the socks — even the cologne, to wear for the proper occasion.”
The Joe Brand name carried a lot of weight and was often referred to as “the Neiman Marcus of the South.”
“At the beginning of every presidency in Mexico, a senior advisor would come into the store and share the new president’s size. For the next six years, people would come in from Mexico City and my father would personally buy for the President of Mexico,” Jorge said.
Joe Brand became a symbol of style and excellence in the Rio Grande Valley, and for Melecio, having his family close with him was the best part. Throughout the store’s history, Melecio saw his children’s children take part in the business. The store remained a popular staple to the community until it closed in 2018. Melecio Sr., who was in his 90s, was slowing down. The family sat down with their father to get his approval, and Jorge recalls his answer.
“Whatever you think is best,” he told them.
Still, it was a difficult decision to make. When the store closed, Melecio and his children, who were by then in their late 50s and early 60s, all decided to officially retire to spend time with their own grandchildren.
“I think that all my father wanted to do was to keep his family close to him,” said Jorge. “There are no regrets from anyone. The most important thing for my father and for all of us is that we became a much stronger family by staying together. We were all extremely blessed.”
Today, the Medina family remains close, gathering weekly and celebrating holidays together. Their children and grandchildren continue to honor Melecio and Aurora’s legacy through their success, carrying forward the same values of hard work, love, and unity that define the family.
