HispanicVista Columnists

From the Edward R. Roybal Family

Today the Edward Roybal Family mourns the loss of Edward Ross Roybal, a quiet yet forceful and accomplished man.

On October 24, 2005, former Representative Edward Roybal died in Pasadena, California. Representative Roybal was 89 years old and passed away at Huntington Memorial Hospital due to complications surrounding pneumonia. He is survived by his wife, Lucille Beserra Roybal, and his three children, Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, Lillian Roybal-Rose and Edward Roybal, Jr.

“Today we mourn the loss of a true champion in the cause of civil rights, and most importantly, a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. As with so many people who came in contact with him, our father taught us to believe in social justice and the importance of building coalitions and giving back to our community.”

Although today is a sad day for the Roybal Family, we consider ourselves blessed to have had a father that gave us boundless joy.

We express a heartfelt thank you to the many people across the country who have sent their condolences. Your thoughts and prayers will sustain us in the coming weeks and months.”

A vigil will be held on Sunday, October 30 at 7:00 PM at the Resurrection Church, 3324 Opal Street, Los Angeles, CA. Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 31 at 9:00 AM at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, 555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA. Representative Roybal will be buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Boyle Heights.

The Roybal Family has asked that in lieu of flowers, people give a donation to the Edward R. Roybal Foundation, 2047 Pasqual Street, Pasadena, CA 91107.

A biography of Representative Roybal’s life in and out of Congress follows:

~ Los Angeles, CA

Edward Ross Roybal was born on February 10, 1916 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the age of six, his family moved to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles.

After graduation from Roosevelt High School in 1934, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. He later continued his education at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he studied business administration, and at Southwestern University, where he studied law.

After working for the California Tuberculosis Association, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II from April 1944 to December 1945.

Upon his return to the Los Angeles area, he continued his work with the California Tuberculosis Association as its director of health education for Los Angeles
County.

Mr. Roybal first ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1947. Reacting positively to his defeat, he co-founded the Los Angeles Community Service Organization (CSO) with the goal of mobilizing the neglected 9th District of Los Angeles against discrimination in housing, employment, and education.

In 1949, following a groundswell of support from minority communities, Mr. Roybal was elected to serve the 9th District of Los Angeles on the Los Angeles City Council, the first Hispanic to serve on the city council in more than a century. He served the 9^th District for 13 years.

Mr. Roybal was the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor in 1954. In 1958, his opponent was declared the winner in a controversial vote count for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

~ United States House of Representatives

Edward Roybal was first elected to the House in 1962, after the redistricting based on the 1960 census, to serve the 30th District of California, which included communities like Hollywood, Hancock Park, Downtown Los Angeles, MacArthur Park and Boyle Heights where Mr. Roybal was reared.

He was the first Hispanic from California to serve in Congress since 1879, and he served in the House from 1963 to 1993.

Following the redistricting based on the 1970 census, Rep. Roybal won election in California’s newly-created 25th District which, like the 30th, was comprised of constituents from widely diverse ethnicities.

Early in his congressional career, Rep. Roybal served on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, the Post Office Committee, and later the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

In 1971, Rep. Roybal was selected to serve on the Appropriations Committee, where he remained for the rest of his tenure in the House. He became one of the thirteen cardinals of the United States House of Representatives when he was elected chair of the Treasury, Postal Service General Government Subcommittee in 1981. He was a powerful advocate for funding for education, civil rights, and health programs. He was the first member of Congress to appropriate funding for HIV/AIDS research.

Rep. Roybal also served on the Select Committee on Aging, serving as chair from 1985 to 1993. In 1980, he led a campaign for the restoration of funds to programs for the elderly. In 1982, he was successful in maintaining the Meals on Wheels program. He was also one of the principal authors of the Older Americans Act.

In 1976, Rep. Roybal was one of the founding members and the first chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). He was also one of the founding members of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI).

~ After Congress

In 1992, his daughter, Lucille Roybal-Allard, after serving in the California Assembly for six years, was elected to serve the newly-created 33rd Congressional District of California, which included a portion of the district that Rep. Ed Roybal had represented in Congress for 30 years.

In 1993, former Rep. Roybal used his remaining campaign funds to found the non-profit Edward R. Roybal Foundation to award scholarships for students in public health. He also founded a research agency dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of health and human service delivery to older persons, now called the Edward R. Roybal Institute for Applied Gerontology at the California State University – Los Angeles campus.

In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) honored Rep. Roybal for his trailblazing leadership and long-standing support for public health programs by naming its main campus in Atlanta in his honor and awarding him its Champion of Prevention Award.

In 2001, President Clinton awarded Rep. Roybal the Presidential Citizens Medal for over 50 years of “exemplary deeds of service for our nation.”

The annual award given by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) for outstanding public service is named the Edward R. Roybal Public Service Award in his honor.

In 2004, Rep. Roybal was recognized by the Mexican-American Political Association as a “Latino Legend of the 20th Century.”