Alumni

Please join us in congratulating Raul Estrada '83 as our 2024 Alumni of the Year Recipient! 

Raul Estrada, a successful entrepreneur, immigrated with his parents to Dallas from Mexico when he was a young child. With tuition assistance, he attended local Catholic schools, and before he turned 16, he had worked nine different jobs in the Dallas area.

With dedicated mentors and Raul's great attitude, he was working for himself by the age of 26. A restauranteur, construction business owner, and real estate developer, Raul utilizes all his skills and connections in his business and to help those in need.

Raul owns and runs multiple locations of his restaurants, Las Ranitas and Los Sapitos. He began his construction business by building new restaurants and by building and financing homes for his employees. As founder and principal of Marcer Construction, LLC, Raul has saved the Diocese of Dallas millions of dollars by participating in and managing construction projects at St. Mary of Carmel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Saint James Parish, Cristo Rey High School, Catholic Charities Dallas, St. Jude Center and more.

A founding board member of Cristo Rey Dallas and a six-year trustee of The Catholic Foundation, Raul served as the 2019 Catholic Foundation Award Honoree, which is an annual tradition honoring exemplary Catholic leaders in our community.

In 2019, Raul served as the Catholic Foundation Award Honoree which is an annual tradition honoring exemplary Catholic leaders in our community. He currently serves as a board member of Catholic Charities and is a founding board member of #BeGolden, a social awareness campaign that seeks to deliver a message of unity, civility, and empathy for our immigrant community by following the Golden Rule.

Raul is also a founding board member of Community Does It, a Dallas non-profit that empowers members of marginalized populations to bring equitable access to quality public health and mental health services in their own communities.

Raul and his beloved wife Carmen have four children. They are parishioners at The Cathedral Shrine of The Virgin of Guadalupe and attend St. Mary of Carmel from time to time.