Jesse Richard Avena
1936 - 2025
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Memorial Tribute for Jesse Richard Avena (1936 - 2025)
On July 21, 2025 surrounded by his family, Jesse Richard Avena closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and set off on his journey to the afterlife. Richard was 89 years old, a well-known and admired civil rights leader and beloved father.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 21,1936 and raised in El Paso, Texas, Richard spent all his life advocating for a just country that would uphold the civil rights of minorities and disenfranchised people. His hard-working Mexican immigrant parents pointed him in the direction of achieving success while always honoring others.
A leader early in life, Richard was drum major for Ysleta High School and started his own dance band, the Latinaires. After high school, he was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church in Chiquimula, Guatemala. After his two-year mission he attended Brigham Young University, then George Washington University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1967.
Like his older sister Celia Avena Reese, Richard understood that higher education was a supreme prize to be earned. He paid his own college expenses by driving a cab, selling books door to door, serving as an elderly gentleman's companion, and filming records for the LDS Church.
His university degree enabled him to begin a career as a proud federal government professional or "fed," as he sometimes called himself. Richard began his federal career at the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service as a translator. Members of Congress asked him to convert their speeches to Spanish. He also translated government publications so they could be read by the growing Hispanic population.
Throughout life, Richard Avena volunteered with others to bring justice and economic betterment to disenfranchised people. In Utah, he marched to save a wrongly convicted Mexican American from the death penalty. While in Washington, DC in the Sixties, he established the D.C. Huelga Committee and led pickets of grocery stores in support of the United Farm Workers boycott of grapes and melons.
His strong belief in using one's voice to facilitate meaningful change was evident in his frequent participation and organization of marches for civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made an everlasting impression on Richard. He attended King's 1963 March on Washington where he heard King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Richard was the only Mexican American participant in the 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear and attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. with his sister Celia.
In 1967, he took a position with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1968, the Commission sent him to San Antonio to mobilize the Commission's first hearing devoted solely to Mexican Americans. With other civil rights leaders, he planned and directed a week-long hearing that laid bare laws, regulations and actions aimed at suppressing minorities. Witnesses testified about educational discrimination, unfair housing practices and employment discrimination against minorities.
Among the more flagrant policies revealed were that Texas Rangers were used to break up labor strikes and that Texas swimming pools and schools were still segregated. This 1968 hearing and publication of the Commission's findings provided a touchstone for many years. The findings were cited as justification for legislative and regulatory reform across Texas and the Southwest United States.
After the 1968 hearings, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights named Avena Southwest Regional Director for a five-state area, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Louisiana. He directed investigations concerning voting rights, employment, education, administration of justice, and immigration policy. The Commission forwarded these investigations to Congress, prompting changes in areas such as prison systems, school busing, employment, and Native American issues.
After his retirement from federal service, he became Regional Civil Rights Director for the Texas Department of Human Services. He and his staff investigated civil rights complaints filed by employees and clients of the agency. Later, he became the first Mexican American Executive Director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Richard advocated for privacy in the workplace, freedom of speech, AIDS research, and immigration issues.
Avena testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Congress on civil rights issues, as well as providing expert testimony in several state and federal civil rights lawsuits.
Richard fell in love with Guatemala and its people, returning to Guatemala in 2006 after retirement. He taught U.S. Immigration Law and Policies at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.
In 2018 after returning to San Antonio, Avena gathered community members to plan a conference to consider what had transpired since the 1968 Civil Rights hearings in San Antonio. Hundreds of activists and historians attended the multi-day meeting called "Fifty Years Later: Holding up the Mirror." Richard Avena and Robert Brischetto compiled a book, "Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas," a compendium of works by well-known experts.
Richard Avena lived the values of his professional life in his personal life. He was the kind of person who never met a stranger. He took genuine interest in each individual, no matter their station in life. He collaborated with other civil rights proponents such as Cesar Chavez, Walter Mondale, Joe Bernal, Willie Velasquez, John F Dulles, Blandina Cardenas and William Kuntsler. Not only were they involved in civil rights issues; they were friends.
Avena preferred team work to acting alone and was always surrounded by a group of deep thinkers. He never spoke ill of those whose opinions were different. Rather, he enjoyed robust discussion and sought opposing opinions.
Richard Avena doted on his four children: Rebecca R Clark (husband Dave), Linda Christina Avena (fiancé Jay Lees), Richard W Avena and Laura E Avena. He took great delight in being stepfather of Richard J Urrutia (wife Christi), Leandra C Urrutia (husband Kevin Reuter) and was a special father figure to Jessica J Childs (husband Joey Conway). Nothing gave him more pride than sitting amongst his family, watching his grandchildren and great-grandchildren play.
At Christmas, Richard loved to assemble the grandchildren and great- grandchildren and pass out cards with cash for each one. In quieter moments, he enjoyed discussing politics and great books with his ex-wives, Linda J Wilson and Evangeline M Diaz, who often visited him. His children are grateful that both wives were present until the end.
Richard delighted in his daily phone call with his older sister Celia Avena Reese of Arlington Texas. He enjoyed visits to Arlington with his sister, niece Ruth Lane (husband Rob), and nephew Robert Reese (wife Jill) and their children. He truly enjoyed visits from other family members, friends and medical caregivers.
The family is especially grateful to Richard Wilson Avena, the son who stepped in to be his dad's full time, unpaid caretaker for four years. The two developed a special bond.
A celebration of Jesse Richard Avena's life is planned for November.
If you are interested in attending this celebration, please email us at:
jesse.richardavena@gmail.com
If you wish, donations can be made to the following non profit organizations in Richard's honor:
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
https://nipnlg.org/
Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
www.raicestexas.org
Advocacy Immigration Legal Services Education
https://www.americangateways.org/
On July 21, 2025 surrounded by his family, Jesse Richard Avena closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and set off on his journey to the afterlife. Richard was 89 years old, a well-known and admired civil rights leader and beloved father.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 21,1936 and raised in El Paso, Texas, Richard spent all his life advocating for a just country that would uphold the civil rights of minorities and disenfranchised people. His hard-working Mexican immigrant parents pointed him in the direction of achieving success while always honoring others.
A leader early in life, Richard was drum major for Ysleta High School and started his own dance band, the Latinaires. After high school, he was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church in Chiquimula, Guatemala. After his two-year mission he attended Brigham Young University, then George Washington University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1967.
Like his older sister Celia Avena Reese, Richard understood that higher education was a supreme prize to be earned. He paid his own college expenses by driving a cab, selling books door to door, serving as an elderly gentleman's companion, and filming records for the LDS Church.
His university degree enabled him to begin a career as a proud federal government professional or "fed," as he sometimes called himself. Richard began his federal career at the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service as a translator. Members of Congress asked him to convert their speeches to Spanish. He also translated government publications so they could be read by the growing Hispanic population.
Throughout life, Richard Avena volunteered with others to bring justice and economic betterment to disenfranchised people. In Utah, he marched to save a wrongly convicted Mexican American from the death penalty. While in Washington, DC in the Sixties, he established the D.C. Huelga Committee and led pickets of grocery stores in support of the United Farm Workers boycott of grapes and melons.
His strong belief in using one's voice to facilitate meaningful change was evident in his frequent participation and organization of marches for civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made an everlasting impression on Richard. He attended King's 1963 March on Washington where he heard King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Richard was the only Mexican American participant in the 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear and attended the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. with his sister Celia.
In 1967, he took a position with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1968, the Commission sent him to San Antonio to mobilize the Commission's first hearing devoted solely to Mexican Americans. With other civil rights leaders, he planned and directed a week-long hearing that laid bare laws, regulations and actions aimed at suppressing minorities. Witnesses testified about educational discrimination, unfair housing practices and employment discrimination against minorities.
Among the more flagrant policies revealed were that Texas Rangers were used to break up labor strikes and that Texas swimming pools and schools were still segregated. This 1968 hearing and publication of the Commission's findings provided a touchstone for many years. The findings were cited as justification for legislative and regulatory reform across Texas and the Southwest United States.
After the 1968 hearings, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights named Avena Southwest Regional Director for a five-state area, including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Louisiana. He directed investigations concerning voting rights, employment, education, administration of justice, and immigration policy. The Commission forwarded these investigations to Congress, prompting changes in areas such as prison systems, school busing, employment, and Native American issues.
After his retirement from federal service, he became Regional Civil Rights Director for the Texas Department of Human Services. He and his staff investigated civil rights complaints filed by employees and clients of the agency. Later, he became the first Mexican American Executive Director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Richard advocated for privacy in the workplace, freedom of speech, AIDS research, and immigration issues.
Avena testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Congress on civil rights issues, as well as providing expert testimony in several state and federal civil rights lawsuits.
Richard fell in love with Guatemala and its people, returning to Guatemala in 2006 after retirement. He taught U.S. Immigration Law and Policies at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.
In 2018 after returning to San Antonio, Avena gathered community members to plan a conference to consider what had transpired since the 1968 Civil Rights hearings in San Antonio. Hundreds of activists and historians attended the multi-day meeting called "Fifty Years Later: Holding up the Mirror." Richard Avena and Robert Brischetto compiled a book, "Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas," a compendium of works by well-known experts.
Richard Avena lived the values of his professional life in his personal life. He was the kind of person who never met a stranger. He took genuine interest in each individual, no matter their station in life. He collaborated with other civil rights proponents such as Cesar Chavez, Walter Mondale, Joe Bernal, Willie Velasquez, John F Dulles, Blandina Cardenas and William Kuntsler. Not only were they involved in civil rights issues; they were friends.
Avena preferred team work to acting alone and was always surrounded by a group of deep thinkers. He never spoke ill of those whose opinions were different. Rather, he enjoyed robust discussion and sought opposing opinions.
Richard Avena doted on his four children: Rebecca R Clark (husband Dave), Linda Christina Avena (fiancé Jay Lees), Richard W Avena and Laura E Avena. He took great delight in being stepfather of Richard J Urrutia (wife Christi), Leandra C Urrutia (husband Kevin Reuter) and was a special father figure to Jessica J Childs (husband Joey Conway). Nothing gave him more pride than sitting amongst his family, watching his grandchildren and great-grandchildren play.
At Christmas, Richard loved to assemble the grandchildren and great- grandchildren and pass out cards with cash for each one. In quieter moments, he enjoyed discussing politics and great books with his ex-wives, Linda J Wilson and Evangeline M Diaz, who often visited him. His children are grateful that both wives were present until the end.
Richard delighted in his daily phone call with his older sister Celia Avena Reese of Arlington Texas. He enjoyed visits to Arlington with his sister, niece Ruth Lane (husband Rob), and nephew Robert Reese (wife Jill) and their children. He truly enjoyed visits from other family members, friends and medical caregivers.
The family is especially grateful to Richard Wilson Avena, the son who stepped in to be his dad's full time, unpaid caretaker for four years. The two developed a special bond.
A celebration of Jesse Richard Avena's life is planned for November.
If you are interested in attending this celebration, please email us at:
jesse.richardavena@gmail.com
If you wish, donations can be made to the following non profit organizations in Richard's honor:
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
https://nipnlg.org/
Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
www.raicestexas.org
Advocacy Immigration Legal Services Education
https://www.americangateways.org/
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