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'''Simon Hinojosa Vega''' (October 8, 1935 &ndash; May 12, 2017) was a high school [[educator]] who became a friend of  [[singer]] [[Elvis Presley]] while the two served together from 1958 to 1960 in the [[United States Army]] in the former [[Germany|West Germany]] In 1993, Vega turned his house into a museum called "Little Graceland" located in his native Los Fresno in  Cameron County north of [[Brownsville]], [[Texas]].  Little Graceland is loosely patterned on Presley's former mansion, Graceland,  in [[Memphis]], [[Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web|author=John Kelso|year=2006 |title=Texas Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff |edition=3rd |publisher=Globe Pequot |isbn=978-0-7627-4109-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/texascuriosities0000kels/page/255 255–256] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/texascuriosities0000kels/page/255 }}</ref>

'''Simon Hinojosa Vega''' (October 8, 1935 &ndash; May 12, 2017) was a high school [[educator]] who became a friend of  [[singer]] [[Elvis Presley]] while the two served together from 1958 to 1960 in the [[United States Army]] in the former [[Germany|West Germany]] In 1993, Vega turned his house into a museum called "Little Graceland" located in his native Los Fresno in  Cameron County north of [[Brownsville]], [[Texas]].  Little Graceland is loosely patterned on Presley's former mansion, Graceland,  in [[Memphis]], [[Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web|author=John Kelso|year=2006 |title=Texas Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff |edition=3rd |publisher=Globe Pequot |isbn=978-0-7627-4109-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/texascuriosities0000kels/page/255 255–256] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/texascuriosities0000kels/page/255 }}</ref>

Vega, who was also a barber and instructor of driver's education, was one of three children of Jose Isabel Vega of Los Fresnos. He and his wife, the former Teresa Lopez, named a son, Rene Elvis Vega, after Presley. They also had a daughter, Rosalva Vega Mezouar.<ref name=losfrnews>Remembering the Man Who Remembered the King – Los Fresnos News, May 26, 2017, accessed April 17, 2021.</ref>

Vega was also at times a barber, an instructor of driver's education, and a school bus driver. He was one of three children of Jose Isabel Vega and the former Estefana Hinojosa, hence his middle name. He and his wife, the former Teresa Lopez, named a son, Rene Elvis Vega, after Presley. They also had a daughter, Rosalva Vega Mezouari, who helped her father to establish the museum.<ref name=losfrnews>Remembering the Man Who Remembered the King – Los Fresnos News, May 26, 2017, accessed April 17, 2021.</ref>

In 1978, a year after Presley's early death, Vega composed a song, "The Ballad of Elvis Presley." He produced three thousand copies. Little Graceland is a home converted into a shrine to the man dubbed "The King" of rock and roll music. The museum contains many pictures of Presley, some with Vega, which the museum owner considered among his most prized possessions.<ref>Bob Phillips, ''Texas Country Reporter,'' weekend of June 14, 2008.</ref>

In 1978, a year after Presley's early death, Vega composed a song, "The Ballad of Elvis Presley." He produced three thousand copies. Little Graceland is a home converted into a shrine to the man dubbed "The King" of rock and roll music. The museum contains many pictures of Presley, some with Vega, which the museum owner considered among his most prized possessions.<ref>Bob Phillips, ''Texas Country Reporter,'' weekend of June 14, 2008.</ref>