Fr. Esteban Jasso González was born on 26 November 1932 in Waco, Texas to the late Domingo and Leonor Jasso. In his youth, he and his family lived as migrant workers in Texas, Indiana, and Michigan. He attended elementary schools in Waco, Austin, and Kopperl, Texas. After earning his high school diploma at the United States Armed Forces Institute, Fr. Esteban served in the US Army and fought in the Korean War from 1953 to 1955. He later joined the active reserves, earning the rank of sergeant first class.
It was in Waco, Texas that Fr. Esteban first met the Franciscan TORs. He was baptized and made his first communion at St. Francis Catholic Church. In 1957, he joined the Immaculate Conception Province and made his novitiate in Waco, Texas at St. Francis. On 24 August 1959, Fr. Esteban made his first profession at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Cura in Mallorca, Spain. He completed an undergraduate degree at St. Francis College (now University) in Loretto, PA and did seminary studies in Mallorca and at the Angelicum in Rome.
On 24 October 1963, Fr. Esteban made his solemn profession in Rome, Italy. He was ordained to the diaconate on 25 October 1964 in Rome, Italy at the hands of His Excellency, Vito Roberti, titular Archbishop of Constantia in Scythia. On 21 February 1965, Fr. Esteban was ordained to the priesthood at the hands of His Excellency, Giovanni Canestri, titular bishop of Tenedus.
Fr. Esteban began his priestly ministry as a missionary in Peru, traveling throughout the narrow roads atop a motorcycle his family had bought for him. After four years, he returned to Mexico, where he served as a parish priest at the Parroquia de la Divina Providencia, Colonia del Valle, and Parroquia de la Divina Providencia, Colonia Moctezuma. He also served in the leadership of the then Commissariat of Mexico between 1981-1989. In 1993, Fr. Esteban was assigned to All Saints Catholic Church in Fort Worth.
For the next 23 years, Fr. Esteban worked diligently for the prospering of his flock. He invited the Hermanas Franciscanas de la Inmaculada Concepción to assist in the parish ministries and built a new parish hall for religious education. Fr. Esteban was passionate about the importance of religious education, spending long hours raising funds for the parish and school. He would lead the local Cinco de Mayo parade while riding a horse and wearing his sombrero and mariachi suit.
In addition to being a tireless advocate for Catholic education, Fr. Esteban also advocated on behalf of immigrants and the unborn. He served on many civic boards and communities, including the local United Way and Task Force on Racism. In 2002, he met then President George W. Bush during a Hispanic Leadership Summit. In 2013, his work for the promotion of Catholic education was recognized by the University of Notre Dame, which bestowed upon him the Sorin Award. In his acceptance speech, Fr. Esteban said that the country and the Church needed “solid Catholics with a living conviction of the truth they have discovered through the process of a Catholic education.”
Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, Fr. Esteban retired in 2018. The illness caused him much suffering, but Fr. Esteban bore his illness with faith saying, I will carry it as the Lord carried His cross for me.” On 12 February 2021, at the age of 88 and surrounded by family and friends, Fr. Esteban went to the Lord. He had served for 63 years as a friar and 56 as a priest. In the words of His Excellency, Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Fr. Esteban “was a faithful Franciscan friar and priest who watched over the Lord’s flock with a Shepherd’s care.”
The deep effect that Fr. Esteban had upon all those that knew him was seen in the hundreds of visitors that paid their respects at All Saints Catholic Church. At the funeral vigil on 22 February 2021, presided by the Bishop Olson, several dignitaries delivered eulogies – including Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price, who called Fr. Esteban “a spiritual giant in the Fort Worth community”. On 23 February 2021, Bishop Olson celebrated the funeral Mass at All Saints Catholic Church. The Very Reverend Father Mauricio Alarcón Martinéz, TOR, Provincial of the Vice Province of Holy Mary of Guadalupe, offered the homily.
Fr. Esteban was buried at the Waco Memorial Cemetery near his father. He is survived by several brothers and sisters, many nieces and nephews, and by his fellow Franciscan friars.