His rise from poverty to prominence in his native West Texas left Cato Cedillo with a profound compassion for helping others and personified the American dream.

When he moved to the San Diego area in 1979 after serving unopposed for ten years on the San Angelo City Council, he helped found the Olympicos Soccer Club for youths – most of them from disadvantaged families.

His message – "No drugs, no alcohol, stay in school" – became became the club's motto.

Mixing community service and public service, Mr. Cedillo joined the staff in 1981 of then-freshman U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon.

For the next 23 years, most of them as Hunter's deputy chief of staff in the 52nd District, Mr. Cedillo took on such responsibilities as working with American Indian tribes, small businesses and the military.

The cause of death was complications from stomach surgery, said Joe Browning, senior field liaison for Congressman Hunter.

"Cato was a good friend and a truly great American," said Hunter, who had spent Monday by his bedside. "He was a giant among men and will be sorely missed."

 Mr. Cedillo, the son of a struggling carpenter in San Angelo, got his first job at age 9 shagging golf balls near San Angelo Country Club.

During his freshman year in high school, he broke his leg sliding into second base in a varsity baseball game. He left school after the injury and worked for a grocery store in San Angelo to help support his family.

Eventually, he bought the store.

Mr. Cedillo showed similar upward mobility in the golf industry. After working as a greens keeper at San Angelo Country Club, he designed Riverside Golf Course, an 18-hole public layout in San Angelo.

Beginning in 1973, he served four years on the San Angelo City Council. During that time, he worked with youths in the San Angelo Boys Club and founded tutoring, cycling and basketball programs.

His dedication to youths in San Angelo resulted in the naming of a gym in his honor.

During his term as a city commissioner, as council members in San Angelo are called, Mr. Cedillo championed such improvements as paving city streets. He was credited with spearheading the paving of 27 miles of streets.

"I walked through mud to get to school when I was young, so I knew what those kids were going through," he told the San Antonio Standard Times in December 1999.

After moving to California and settling in Chula Vista, Mr. Cedillo worked in landscaping. When Hunter met Cedillo and found out about his community service and political background, he offered him a job.

"Cato had the biggest heart of gold of anyone I've ever known," said Wendell Cutting, Hunter's chief of staff. "His heart was always open to anyone. In San Angelo, he and his wife, Pilina, would take money out of their own pockets to buy lunch for elementary school kids."

Mr. Cedillo was president of the Olympicos Soccer Club, which has also engaged with soccer teams from Mexico. "There have been thousands of kids go through this program," Cutting said

Survivors include Mr. Cedillo's wife, Pilina; a daughter, Sandra Joseph of Chula Vista; his mother, Eulojia Cedillo of San Angelo; sisters, Emma Montelongo and Gloria Rios, both of San Angelo; brothers, Gilbert and Tony Cedillo, both of San Angelo; a grandson and three step-grandsons.