Sat, Jul 04, 2009
 Debbie Makar, left, Becky Williams (not visible in photo) and Norma Gonzales-Lopez examine a family tree during the Soza family reunion in Tucson over Labor Day weekend. More than 200 family members from across the country converged on the Old Pueblo for the event.
Dean Knuth / Arizona Daily Star
A1 Communications Cable Techs Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION NeighborsSosa/Soza clan honor fabric of familyArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.07.2008
More than 230 years ago, presidio soldier José María Sosa moved north from Tubac to Presidio San Agustín del Tucson, where he and his wife, Rita, started a family.
Labor Day weekend, more than 200 of the Sosas' descendants came to a family reunion in the Old Pueblo.
"We've been raised to go beyond the immediate family to the extended family," said Wendy Bourquardez, a ninth-generation Soza who lives in Orange County, Calif.
Historical documents show that the spelling of the family's surname switched from Sosa to Soza in the late 1800s.
Though Antonio Campa Sosa signed his surname with an "s," the federal government sent him a homestead certificate that spelled it with a "z" — and the name Soza came to be.
Bourquardez, 55, went around the reunion's registration room on Aug. 29, asking relatives to point out their branches on a family tree that dates back to 1770.
She saw familiar and unfamiliar faces that all share the unmistakable characteristics of kinship. "If they're a natural Soza, you can see it," she said, citing similar facial structures.
Bourquardez was part of the familial committee that organized this year's family reunion, which ran from Aug. 29 to 31 at several Tucson-area locations.
This year's event was about half the size of the family's last major reunion, which drew 442 people in 2000, said organizer Hector V. Soza, Bourquardez's father. He attributes the attendance drop to the current economy, including gas and airfare prices.
Working on the organizing committee with family gave her a chance to get more involved in the reunion and meet relatives she had never met before, said Hector Soza's daughter Debbie Makar, 53, who lives on Tucson's East Side.
The Sozas' history is intertwined with Tucson's and, on a larger scale, Southern Arizona's. Hector V. Soza documents his family's past in the book "Don José María Sosa: Through the Generations." According to the book:
José María Sosa served 29 years as a presidio soldier, until he died in 1800. His son, José María Sosa II, was the administrator of the Tumacácori Mission Lands around 1830.
Farther down the family tree, José María Sosa III's lasting legacy is in the Sosa-Carrillo-Frémont House Museum, 151 S. Granada Ave., made famous for its link to former Arizona Territory Gov. John C. Frémont.
The future museum was originally called the Frémont House, but it was later discovered that the governor may not have actually lived there, though his daughter did.
In 1992, the Arizona Historical Society changed the building's name to its current one to express more accurately the original property and home owners, Arizona Daily Star archives show.
Another public demonstration of the Soza/Sosa family's contribution to Southern Arizona is at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave., where some of their ancestors are among those honored in the museum's Plaza of the Pioneers.
Contemporary Sozas, even those who live outside Arizona, say knowing about their family's history is important to them.
Californian Margo Soza James, 49, said her heritage is part of her identity.
"When I'm at work and I share the family history, it gives me a sense belonging, a sense of who I am, and I'm proud of who I am," she said.
"We're very blessed to have that knowledge we have of our ancestors."
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● Contact reporter Danielle Sottosanti at 618-1922 or at dsottosanti@azstarnet.com.
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