Josue “Joe” Robles Jr., who served nearly three decades in the U.S. Army — rising to become a two-star general before assuming the top job at USAA — died Thursday, the company announced. He was 78.
Robles oversaw the largest period of growth in USAA’s history by opening eligibility to all who honorably served in the military and their family members. A focus on innovation during his tenure made the company an early mover in mobile banking technology, including the first to offer check deposits via mobile phone.
“With nearly three decades of service to the Army, which included multiple deployments and several distinguished honors, Joe knew what it meant to serve,” wrote USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock in an email announcing his death to employees Thursday afternoon. “Joe’s experience as an enlisted soldier gave him unique insight into the needs of the military community and their families.”
The soft-spoken Robles was beloved by many employees for his low-key management style and gentle humor. He announced his retirement to a packed auditorium at USAA that now bears his name and will “stand as a reminder of his selfless service to our country and the impact he had on USAA and so many of us as individuals,” wrote Peacock.
“It’s not often that people loved their CEO, but people loved Joe,” said Eileen Collins, a retired NASA astronaut and Air Force colonel who served on USAA’s board of directors from 2008-2022.
No cause of death was given, but in 2019, Robles revealed that he had Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease with no cure. According to a story from the San Antonio Express-News at the time, Robles told a gathering at Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospital of San Antonio that he hadn’t been diagnosed until after his retirement, but suspected he’d had the condition for several years.
He went public with his diagnosis to help others, he said at the time.
“Joe touched a lot of lives and had many accomplishments” former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros said Friday. “He is so demonstrative of the American story,” from working with his father making bricks “to command of one of the most distinguished divisions of the United States Army as a general, then become the CEO of one of the most respected corporations in the United States. I doubt there’s another country on Earth where that could happen.”
Robles “was not only a great military man, organizing USAA, he also had a great love for the community,” said retired Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who recalled that Robles’ predecessor came out against Wolff’s efforts to pass a bond that would fund improvements to the San Antonio River, the then-AT&T Center, amateur sports parks and the creation of what would become the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
“And then when Robles came in, he supported it, put up $50,000 and and we passed all the four major issues,” Wolff said. “So I was very thankful that he came along.”
Mayor Ron Nirenberg posted on X Thursday that Robles “earned trust and reverence from those who knew him because he was a force for progress in all that he endeavored. From business to veteran affairs to education, he exemplified a life of selfless service, answering the call locally and nationally time and time again.”
After several overseas tours and a stint as commanding general of the 1st Infantry, also known as the “Big Red One,” Robles was ultimately promoted to major general and named budget director for the Army.
He began serving on USAA’s board of directors while on active duty, and began his career there in 1994 after retirement as special assistant to the chairman. Robles later became the banking and insurance giant’s chief financial officer and comptroller, then served as corporate treasurer and chief administration officer before becoming CEO in 2007. He retired in 2015.
Humble beginnings
Robles was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1946, the eldest of nine children whose parents acquired only fourth- and ninth-grade educations. His family moved to Ohio when Robles was young so his father could work in a steel mill, which he did for the next 35 years.
“I knew I wanted enough education so that I could have choices,” he said in a biography by Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which honored Robles in 2011. “I worked in the mill one summer, and I learned very quickly what a hot, dirty, dangerous place it is. I wore an asbestos suit and shoveled slag. Hot doesn’t describe that job. It made me want to go to school and get a good education so that I wouldn’t have to work there. I have always admired my father for doing it for so many years.”
He enrolled in community college after high school and took a job at a NASA nuclear plant, with plans to become a doctor. But when he dropped his classes to part time, “Uncle Sam got to me,” he said in an interview with Hispanic Executive in 2014.
Robles entered the Army as an enlisted soldier, but was placed into a program that put non-college graduates into Officer Training School. He later earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Kent State University and an MBA from Indiana State University.
Over his 28 year military career, Robles served in command and staff positions in Korea, Vietnam and Germany, as well as the Pentagon.
Robles deployed the 1st Calvary Division from what is now Fort Cavazos for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, according to the Express-News. For his service, Robles received the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.
During his time at USAA and after his retirement, Robles was a civically active member of the community. He served on the boards of directors of the San Antonio branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Foundation, San Antonio’s Early Childhood Education Municipal Development Corporation and the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
He served as chairman of P16Plus Council of Greater Bexar County Foundation, was tapped to be a member of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs MyVA Advisory Committee and the Advisory Board of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Latin American Law at the University of Texas. Robles served as co-chair of the Pre-K 4 SA initiative and on Gordon Hartman’s SOAR board, which oversees Morgan’s Wonderland.
Robles and his wife Patty had three children, Melissa, Andrew and Christopher.
Christopher, who has autism, “changed my life,” Robles said in the Horatio Alger biography. “He opened my eyes to people with special needs. He brings out the best in me and is the blessing of my life.”
In his email to employees Thursday, Peacock said Robles’ legacy “will continue to guide our great association as we strive to uphold the values he championed.”
Phil Hardberger, who served as mayor of San Antonio during Robles’ tenure as CEO, said Robles sat on an advisory committee of business leaders he used as a sounding board.
He called Robles one of the “most humble and personable generals I have ever met,” and said his story — “growing up poor and Hispanic, with a lot of odds against him” — is a story many San Antonians could understand and be proud of.
“I’m glad I knew him, and I’m glad he lived and worked in San Antonio.”