Helen Chavez, who helped her late husband Cesar Chavez fight for the rights of farmworkers in California, died on Monday, according to the Cesar Chavez Foundation.
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“She ran the Farm Workers Credit Union for 25 years”, Paul Chavez said.
Helen Chavez, who aided and collaborated with her husband in his union activities, died Monday of natural causes in the hospital surrounded by many of her seven children, 31 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Helen Chavez, second from right, is seen with her husband, Cesar Chavez, and six of their eight children in 1969 in Delano, California.
Helen Chavez was quiet and humble but fiercely determined and strong-willed, the union said.
After they were married in 1948, Cesar Chavez would return home after experiencing a fresh injustice toiling in the fields and tell his bride, Helen, “somebody’s got to do something about it”.
She avoided the limelight even as her husband’s public image became well known around the world.
Immediately following-Burial next to Cesar Chavez’s grave in the Memorial Garden of the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, also at 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Rd., Keene, CA 93531.
Chavez “was a fierce and steady force for justice”, Garcetti said in a statement.
Previous year she appeared at her husband’s graveside and accepted a folded flag as he was bestowed with military honors he had not been given at the time of his death. And she greeted President Obama on October 8, 2012, when he visited Keene to dedicate the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, the 398th unit of the National Parks Service.
Grossman said she settled the debate by asking, “Are we a union or not?”
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Details on services will be issued Tuesday.
