[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 66 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE JOE SANCHEZ, SUCCESSFUL LOS ANGELES BUSINESSMAN 
                    AND DEDICATED COMMUNITY ACTIVIST

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 13, 2011

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the late 
Joe Sanchez, a dedicated community activist, successful Los Angeles 
businessman and a dear friend of the Roybal family who passed away May 
10 at the age of 77.
  Born on June 2, 1933 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Joe's family moved 
to Los Angeles when he was eight years old following the outbreak of 
World War II.
  As a teenager, he worked at Weber and Sons, a local discount grocery 
store in the Wall Street/Olympic area of Los Angeles. That job would be 
the start of his career in the wholesale grocery business. The discount 
retail grocery outlets he owned and operated included: La Quebradita 
grocery stores in East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera, which he co-owned 
with his sister and brother-in-law Dolores and Cal Soto; La Marketa in 
Stanton; and Civic Center Sales, originally located in Chinatown and 
later moved to Lincoln Heights. In addition, Joe served on numerous 
civic and industry boards. He founded the Mexican American Grocers 
Association in 1977 and was an active member of the Southern California 
Grocers Association.
  But while Joe was an astute and successful businessman, his true 
passion was the pursuit of social justice for Mexican Americans, as 
well as other disenfranchised groups. For more than five decades, he 
used his businesses as a catalyst for social change and to help fund 
the social justice and political causes he cared most about. Joe 
advocated on behalf of the anti-war movement. He worked to end 
discrimination in hiring and job promotion, advance educational 
opportunities for Latinos, and increase the number of Mexican American 
elected officials and business owners.
  During the United Farm Workers prolonged grape and lettuce boycotts, 
Joe collected truckloads of food for the striking farm workers.
  Upon learning of Joe's passing, Arturo S. Rodriguez, president of the 
United Farm Workers of America, recalled, ``During the most challenging 
and turbulent times of the farm worker movement, beginning in the 1960s 
and '70s, no one in the Latino community did more and could be counted 
on with greater consistency than Joe Sanchez. He was often the first 
person in the Chicano community to whom Cesar would turn when the farm 
workers needed help.'' A close friend, Cesar Chavez and his family 
often stayed in the Sanchez home when he was in Los Angeles.
  In 1973, Mayor Tom Bradley appointed him to serve as a member of the 
Board of Fire Commissioners--the first Latino to hold such a position. 
He was elected to serve as President Pro Tem of the commission from 
1973-76, and as Vice President from 1977-78. During his tenure, Joe 
pushed the LA Fire Department to stop discriminatory hiring practices 
against Mexican Americans, African Americans and Asians.
  Under his leadership, Joe brought about a dramatic increase in the 
hiring of Latino firefighters, paramedics and civilian employees in the 
fire department from 67 to 300. Bilingual positions at the department 
increased markedly from 12 to 119. The department implemented a 
bilingual Emergency Training Program to teach firefighters emergency 
phrases in Spanish. A citywide study was conducted to assure equal 
services to all areas of Los Angeles and, for the first time, the 
department published fire prevention brochures in Spanish.
  Genethia Hudley-Hayes, president of the Los Angeles Board of Fire 
Commissioners, said of Joe's contribution to the commission, ``His was 
the first voice on the Fire Commission that spoke boldly, no matter the 
consequences, for access, equity and fair treatment for all of the men 
and women in the Los Angeles Fire Service.''
  In August 2010, Councilman Ed Reyes paid tribute to Joe with a bronze 
plaque at Fire Station No.1 in Lincoln Heights.
  The plaque states that as a commissioner, Joe distinguished himself 
through his commitment to the goals of the Consent Decree, a 1974 
court-ordered mandate that required the department to hire minorities, 
``thus reinforcing the principles of social and equal justice through 
the employment of all people regardless of race, color, creed or 
national origin.''
  In the decade following his service on the commission, Joe continued 
his quest for justice in the workplace. During the 1980s, Joe was the 
first person to publicly and financially support a discrimination 
lawsuit brought by a group of FBI officers who claimed they had been 
denied promotions because they were Hispanic. He was able to gather 
support in a community long wary of the agency for the controversial 
lawsuit, which the agents eventually won.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to all of Joe's contributions to the Los 
Angeles community, he was also a devoted husband, father, grandfather 
and even great grandfather. I ask my colleagues to please join me in 
extending our condolences to his wife, Laura Balverde Sanchez, and his 
entire family. Joe was an inspiration to all who knew him, and he will 
be greatly missed.

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