Frank & Julie Staggs celebrate 50th anniversary
with travels to Houston, Alaska, Canada, LA & NYC

Frank and Julieta Staggs are celebrating their 50th year of wedded bliss with multiple trips all over the United States. Frank and Julie were married on May 28, 1952 at San Agustín Church. The two lifetime educators are well known in the community, Frank for his many years as principal at Milton Elementary and Lamar Junior High and later as the Director of Secondary Education for the Laredo Independent School District; and Julie as an elementary school teacher for 34 years, including 27 years teaching fifth grade at M. S. Ryan Elementary.
Their anniversary celebration began in Houston on the morning of May 24, when Frank and Julie posed with their sons Frank, Jr., and Raul for a family portrait by Houston photographer Gabriel Tran. Frank, Jr., is an attorney with the firm of Jamail & Kolius in Houston. Raul is a project coordinator for A.S.K. Theater Projects, a non-profit theater foundation, and also a part-time actor in Los Angeles.
On the evening of May 24, Frank and Julie were the honorees at a dinner party hosted by their sons at Frank, Jr.'s home. Guests at the party included old Laredo friends Grace Peña Dolce and husband John; Frank's aunt, Mrs. Anabel Staggs Brown of Houston; Mrs. Brown's sons John Robert and Steve Brown, and their wives; Frank's cousin Will Lamb, along with his son and granddaughter; former Laredoans Pat and Mike Killough (sons of Julie's dear friend Kathryn Killough), along with Mike's wife Gigi and son Tony.
The next morning, Frank and Julie left for a two-week tour and cruise of Alaska. They spent their actual anniversary, May 28, at Denali Park Lodge, Alaska. The five-day land tour by bus and train began in Fairbanks, followed by a seven-day cruise down the Alaskan coast to Vancouver, B.C., before returning to Laredo.
More recently, Frank and Julie embarked on a two-week car trip to the West Coast. The trip included a day and night in historic Fort Davis, Texas, and also an overnight stay in Bisbee, Arizona. They arrived in Los Angeles on September 28 for a four-day visit with son Raul, and also with relatives Betty and Richard Dole, and daughter Angie of Bakersfield. They enjoyed visiting the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. They also attended two performances of Man of La Mancha at Actors Co-op in Hollywood, where Raul is currently performing as Sancho Panza. On the return trip to Laredo, Frank and Julie traveled Route 66 -- described by Frank as "restored for the 'old timers' to remember" -- through Northern Arizona, spending time at the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest.
Next on the agenda for this "on-the-go" couple is an upcoming trip to New York in November to take in several Broadway shows.