Alfred Aguirre, one of Orange County’s true heroes has passed away. Gustavo Arellano wrote an excellent, albeit brief, post about Aguirre over at the OC Weekly Navel Gazing Blog. I am reproducing it below. Let me say however before doing so that Aguirre had a huge influence on civil rights in Orange County. He will be missed by many. Here is Gustavo’s post:
Let’s hope the Orange County Register offers a fuller obituary for Placentia resident Alfred Aguirre than the two-byline rush job they printed today. Reporters Eric Neff and Heather McRea covered the main facts–Aguirre was indeed Placentia’s first Latino councilmember (and the third in Orange County) and was involved in desegregating the city’s schools–but Alfred also played a crucial role in Labor and Community: Mexican Citrus Worker Villages in a Southern California County, 1900-1950, UC Irvine professor Gilbert Gonzalez’s seminal history of Latino orange pickers in la naranja. Alfred is also the father of Superior Court Judge Frederick Aguirre and uncle to Placentia councilmember Joseph Aguirre. Que Dios lo bendiga, Alfred, and the Weekly‘s condolences to the Aguirre family. Listen to this interview of Alfred that appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition this past September.
*UPDATE: Just got a call from Aguirre’s nephew–the Register reporters couldn’t even get Alfred’s wife’s name right. Pendejos.
Note: Aguirre’s nephew is a big fan of the Orange Juice. My condolences to him and his entire family. If we only had a few men like Alfred Aguirre in Santa Ana, we might actually have tossed our crooked Councilmen and ineffective City Manager out a long time ago.
My condolences to him and his entire family.
We lost a great person, But he would always be remembered in the Latino community.
I know one day someone like him from Santa Ana would help fix this city of it’s problems and corruption.