TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Hundreds are expected to gather in Downtown Tucson Wednesday morning for Congressman Raúl Grijalva's funeral before heading to the southside for a celebration of life.
Tuesday night, Tucson Unified School District took time from their meeting to honor Grijalva who had started his political career with 12 years on the TUSD board.
The short ceremony invited the board and their audience outside for a Mariachi performance of Juan Gabriel's 'Amor Eterno' by the Tucson High Magnet School mariachi program, Mariachi Rayos del Sol de Tucson High.
Many of the members grew up with Grijalva as their representative.
“It’s really hard to find somebody who can truly be a leader and connect to your culture as much as he has,” said junior, Madison Llamas-Morales.
“What was most important was not what side of the political view he was on, it was really really about his community," said Justin Enriques, the Mariachi Rayos del Sol de Tucson High director. "Doing everything he could to speak out for those who don’t have a voice.”
Grijalva's decades-long career speaking for those without a voice began at the TUSD board in 1974.
"A lot of people don't know that he's cast some of the most famous votes in district history,” said TUSD Superintendent Dr. Trujillo.
Current TUSD board members read out a statement, acknowledging the work Grijalva had accomplished on the board.
They say Grijalva voted to establish Davis Elementary as Tucson's first two-way dual language school in 1981. Before then, there were dual language programs, but no official schools.
He also voted to make University High School its own standalone school and to change TUSD's flagship High School from Tucson High School to Tucson Magnet High School in 1982.
The board's statement also credited Grijalva with helping to create the district's original Department of African American Studies.
Trujillos said some of Grijalva's work on the board foreshadowed his environmental policy work like his 1976 vote to make Howenstine High School TUSD's first solar-heated school.
But for those who met or knew Grijalva, the moments that stand out have nothing to do with his voting record.
Trujillo says he remembers Grijalva's reaction after he praised Grijalva's daughter Adelita's 20 years on the school board.
"I wasn’t expecting the bear hug I got from the Congressman," Trujillo said. "I saw how much it meant to him in terms of the pride he felt for his daughter.”
While Enriques remembers him as "really a genuine, humble person."
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
