Felicitas Mendez Dies; Pioneer of Integration
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Felicitas Mendez, whose family led a drive more than 50 years ago to desegregate Orange County schools, has died at age 82.
Family members said Tuesday that Mendez died of heart failure shortly after 6 a.m. Easter morning at her daughter’s home in Fullerton.
Mendez and her husband, Gonzalo, operated an asparagus farm in Westminster during the 1940s. They sued the Westminster School District in 1945 after their children were not allowed to attend school with Anglo children. Their suit, and the resulting court ruling, set in motion the integration of schools across Orange County.
In honor of the family’s achievement, the Santa Ana Unified School District last year named its new space-saver school in their honor: the Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez Fundamental Intermediate School.
Gonzalo Mendez died in 1964. Felicitas Mendez is survived by six children, 21 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is set for 7 tonight at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, with a funeral service scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday.
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