[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 74 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO GUADALUPE S. RAMIREZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2002

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of 
Guadalupe S. Ramirez for whom Los Angeles Mission College recently 
dedicated a new Collaborative Studies Building. Guadalupe was an 
outstanding community activist who died in January of 2000 at the age 
of 84.
  Born in El Paso, Texas, Guadalupe had to end her formal education in 
the seventh grade to care for her ill mother. Soon after her mother 
passed away, Guadalupe relocated to California in the 1930's. She later 
married Manuel C. Ramirez. The couple partnered in many community 
efforts and they worked together to establish the San Fernando Valley 
chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Even with 
their deep involvement in the community, the Ramirez's dedicated 
themselves to family, raising and caring for more than 35 children, 
including their many foster children. Guadalupe's many accomplishments 
involved helping found both the first Head Start childcare program in 
the Valley, and the Chicano Studies Department at Cal State University, 
Northridge. She also helped develop the North Valley Occupational 
Center.
  In the 1970s Guadalupe led the campaign to place a proposed community 
college in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Her tireless effort 
proved successful, and in 1975 Mission College was founded in San 
Fernando. Dubbed as ``the mother of Mission College'' for her efforts 
on behalf of the community and the college, Guadalupe is remembered and 
loved by the greater Northeast San Fernando Valley community. The 
dedication of the Collaborative Studies Building in Guadalupe's name 
serves to acknowledge her role in bringing an institution of higher 
learning to the northeast San Fernando Valley while at the same time 
advancing the goals and values she held so dear.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct pleasure to ask my colleagues to Join 
me in saluting Guadalupe S. Ramirez, whose life is an inspiration to 
all.

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