For Dr. Thomas and Gloria Uribe, generations of success began at SAC

By any measure, Dr. Thomas Uribe and his wife Gloria have led extraordinary lives.

Dr. Uribe owned a successful dental practice for more than 40 years in San Antonio and helped advance his profession through state and national leadership roles.

Gloria pursued multiple careers while supporting their growing family. She eventually managed the dental office for nearly 30 years while raising their three children, each of whom went on to advanced degrees and successful careers. Now, their 10 grandchildren are continuing the family tradition of educational achievement.

If you ask the Uribes, it all began at San Antonio College.

“SAC was our starting point, for both Gloria and me. That’s how we were introduced to higher education,” Dr. Uribe said. “That was the very first step.”

As a young man, college seemed like a distant dream. Each year, his family traveled to California to harvest crops, leaving before school ended and returning after it began.

“I don’t think I ever started and finished school on time,” he said. “I started harvesting strawberries when I must have been three or four.”

Graduating from Harlandale High School in 1959, Uribe enrolled at SAC using money saved from part-time jobs. Although he felt unprepared by his high school education, he found a welcoming, supportive academic environment at SAC.

“It introduced me to a completely different world,” he said. “The instructors—especially the science faculty—were encouraging. It was challenging, but fun.”

He became part of a group of about two dozen SAC students who would go on to become lifelong friends. Among them were noted author and filmmaker Severo Perez, along with others who went on to advanced degrees and successful careers.

“We all had hopes and ambitions to have a better life than what we came from. We struggled economically, all of us. That was just part of life,” Uribe said. “So we would help each other, encourage each other. We would lift each other up by the support of friendship.”

At the time, students of color faced barriers in social life. When the group found themselves excluded from existing student clubs, they formed their own: Los Paisanos. The club hosted dances and social events, creating a space where Hispanic students could connect.

Gloria and Thomas, who had met in high school, continued their friendship at SAC. Meanwhile, both worked part-time jobs to cover tuition, which was $50 per semester.

“It was relatively cheap, but still a struggle,” Uribe said.

During his last year at SAC, he was $25 short on tuition. At his mother’s suggestion, he asked his Aunt Josie, who ran a bar on W. Commerce Street with her husband. The next day, she handed him a paper bag filled with $25 in quarters – the week’s take from the jukebox.

“That’s how I finished that last semester,” he said.

After SAC, Uribe couldn’t afford to transfer to a four-year university, so he applied for a job as a draftsman at a local steel company. During the interview, he mentioned his plans to become a doctor. Although he was qualified, the hiring manager turned him down.

“He told me, ‘If I give you a job now, you’re not going to complete your goal. I’m not hiring you because I want you to go back to school,’” Uribe recalled.

Instead, he enlisted in the Army.

“That was the best decision I could have made,” he said. “Gloria and I love to share these stories because in everyone’s journey, there are forks in the road that can put you on a completely different course. That was one of them.”

After basic training, Uribe expected to be deployed overseas. Instead, he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston and assigned to the medical lab, a post that allowed him to finish his associate degree at SAC and earn a bachelor’s degree at St. Mary’s University. He and Gloria married during that time.

When Uribe began dental school in Houston, Gloria worked in banking and healthcare to support their family, which now included their young daughter.

“I was your nontraditional wife because I was the main breadwinner while my husband was in school,” she said. “All my friends were having kids and staying home, and I was out working different places.”

She had first enrolled at SAC in 1960 to earn a dental assistant certificate, and later returned for courses as she pursued a career in real estate.

“My foundation at SAC was very memorable,” she said. “It gave me self-esteem and confidence to try different careers.”

Uribe’s experience in the Army medical lab also opened doors. While in dental school, he worked in the Houston VA Hospital’s oral physiology lab and helped develop the first ingestible toothpaste, designed for astronauts to use in space.

“That was my claim to fame,” he said.

After returning to San Antonio, Uribe bought an existing dental clinic. Once his practice was well established, he became active in professional associations. Gov. Ann Richards appointed him to the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, where he helped eliminate discrimination in licensing exams by implementing blind grading.

“It was really interesting to see how at that level you could do things that would impact your profession,” he said.

He later joined the Western Regional Board of Dental Examiners, conducting dental licensing exams in a territory that covered 37 states.

Now in retirement after a remarkable journey, the Uribes encourage others to start where they did: at SAC.

“It gives everyone, no matter what their economic status and education levels, a starting point in higher education,” he said.

That access to education results in positive changes that ripple throughout generations, Uribe said.

“I’ve seen this educational process in all of our friends that we made at SAC. The majority of the children of this group are also highly educated individuals,” he said. “SAC is responsible for that. It gave us all the opportunity to have a better life.”

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