Our Story

Charles A. Pastrana was a talented athlete and hard-working laborer who started the successful family-run small business known today as Charles A Pastrana and Sons Inc. He was born in Philadelphia to Puerto Rican immigrants, and moved to Annapolis in 1918 when he was just 3 years old. 

Charlie started his business in 1939 with his brother Henry Pastrana, and laborer George Sharps. Charlie traveled the streets of Annapolis asking residents if he could repair or replace some broken concrete he had sighted. It was his good fortune to meet Ruth Buser, another Eastport resident and the daughter of Swiss immigrants. They married in 1940 and soon after moved onto the Buser family property on Elliott Road. After serving in the Navy during WWII, Charlie returned to his growing family confident he could rebuild his business. He bought his first cement mixer in 1946. 

Ruth managed the bookkeeping and billing while she and Charlie raised their nine children. Their six sons fell naturally into the rhythm of the family business with four staying on full-time. One grandson, Kevin Pastrana, also continues full-time. Along with longtime employee Matt McConnell, there is a secure future for the family business begun by a young, hardworking, ambitious Charlie Pastrana in 1939.