Felicitas Mendez Cause of Death – Felicitas Mendez passed on this week secure in the information that the achievements of her family, who drove a milestone battle to coordinate Orange County schools, at last had been perceived.
Mendez and her better half, Gonzalo, sued the Westminster School District in 1945 when their youngsters were banned from going to class with white kids and were requested rather to take a crack at a school for Mexican Americans. The claim inevitably turned into a class activity for the benefit of 5,000 Latino kids in the area.
Yet, for a great part of the 50 years that followed, the achievement was not so much as a reference in course readings, which profoundly disheartened Mendez.
“They had battled and won, and it hurt her that so numerous little youngsters didn’t have a clue,” said her girl, Sylvia Mendez, 61. “She needed individuals to realize that Hispanics were not simply inactive and laid-back and that they fought for their privileges.”
Around 200 relatives and companions accumulated at a remembrance administration in Whittier Wednesday night to commend the life of Felicitas Mendez, who kicked the bucket of cardiovascular breakdown Sunday at 82 years old. She will be covered at 1 p.m. today at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove is among those normal to join in, relatives said.