Alcario Castellano, the grocery-clerk-turned-lottery-winner who used his fortune to reignite Silicon Valley’s communities of color, died Saturday at his home in Saratoga. He was 90.
What began as a $141 million California Lottery jackpot in 2001 became, in time, a modern parable. A wave of excitement that fateful day between Castellano and his wife, Carmen, turned into clarity. The couple came up with a list of names they could help in Silicon Valley — and so began the Castellano Family Foundation.
“He’s always been an activist as long as I’ve known him,” son Armando Castellano told San José Spotlight.
The foundation spread nearly $10 million across key Silicon Valley nonprofits that uplifted everything from the arts to community organizing in San Jose’s Latino communities. Through the years, the foundation awarded millions of dollars in grants and scholarships to advance Latino education, culture, leadership and diversity. Together, the Castellano Family Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation created the LatinXCEL Fund, a $10 million effort to support Latino leaders and groups in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The family foundation ceased operations in 2023. Al is survived by two sons and a daughter, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Carmen, the inspiration behind the foundation, died in 2020 at age 81.
The couple are remembered as dedicated community advocates and volunteers who helped civic institutions long before winning the lottery, including MACLA and The School of Arts and Culture.
In other words, the jackpot didn’t change Al. He and Carmen continued their advocacy, but the checks just got bigger. Carmen used the windfall to scale-up their giving — and their community’s future.
“The lottery just expanded what they were already doing,” Armando Castellano said.
Al served in the U.S. Army in the 1950s and was actively involved in the San Jose GI Forum, where he would organize events such as Cinco de Mayo festivals.
“Look at my mom’s grave where he’s going to be buried — Mexicanos Americanos,” Armando Castellano said. “His parents were from Mexico, but he still strongly identified with the culture. Mexicans often do that. He definitely passed that onto me.”
The Castellanos were avid art collectors and had a love for music. Carmen, who played piano, grew up in a home filled with opera, classical and Mexican music. Alcario played the trumpet in high school and was in a dance band.
Armando Castellano knows the family’s stories. But Al’s passing helped his son realize what kind of footprint he truly left.
“There were so many people who came to the house in the past few days, even after he had passed,” he said. “There were 20-plus people watching his body go off to the van.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.