Former state Sen. Jenny Oropeza’s mother, Sharon, center, speaks with Long Beach resident Ann Salas-Rock, right, the woman who initiated efforts to name the community center at Cesar Chavez Park after Oropeza following the elected official’s death last year, after the conclusion of a dedication and unveiling ceremony Thursday as part of the city’s annual Cesar Chavez Day Festival.
1:31pm | The memory of one of Long Beach’s most notable Latinas, a veteran elected official who passed away last year, was celebrated in grand form Thursday afternoon as a neighborhood community center was officially renamed in honor of the late state Sen. Jenny Oropeza.
The unveiling of the renamed center’s new signage and a plaque featuring information on Oropeza’s lifelong dedication to public service kicked off Thursday’s annual Cesar Chavez Day Celebration festivities at Cesar Chavez Park, where the community center is located.
The renaming effectively and, some say, most fittingly weds the memories of the two leaders whose roots were in the Latino community.
That’s exactly what Long Beach resident Ann Salas-Rock had in mind when she initiated her long-held idea of recognizing Oropeza by renaming the center after her, a plan that Salas-Rock said she had been formulating even prior to Oropeza’s untimely death.
A Long Beach native, Oropeza represented the 55th Senate District in California at the time of her death, an office she had held since 2006. During that time, she served as chairwoman of the Senate Majority Comittee. Prior to that, she held a seat on the state Assembly, where she served as chairwoman of the Assembly Budget Committee.
She got her start in politics at Cal State University Long Beach, where she was elected student body president in the 1970s. Not long would pass before Oropeza was elected in 1988 to the Long Beach school board, from which she catapulted to successfully run for the First District seat on the Long Beach City Council in 1994. She was the first Latino ever elected to the city’s governing body.
Oropeza died Oct. 21, 2010, due to complications stemming from an abdominal blood clot. She was 53.
For Oropeza’s family, the ceremony was a bittersweet reminder of the lives their late wife, daughter and sister was able to touch in her capacity as a public servant.
Oropeza, in fact, was instrumental in the naming of Cesar Chavez Park, which is located in the council district she formerly represented on the City Council.
Tom Mullins, Oropeza’s husband, recalled Thursday how hard his late wife had worked to name the park after the renowned farm workers’ rights activist and labor leader. He said she wanted the parked named after Chavez “because he was one of her great heroes.”
Oropeza’s mother, Sharon, and sister, Lynne, were also in attendance, both shedding tears of mixed sadness and joy as they first removed a banner covering the new plaque and, moments later, another covering the center’s sign, both reaveling Oropeza’s name permanently afixed to the building.
Especially poignant was the performance of a traditional Mexican ballad, written specifically for Oropeza about the Latina’s life accomplishments, by a Mexican music group consisting of a singer and three guitarists. The narrative song is entitled “Corrido de Jenny Oropeza.”
While Salas-Rock was the originator of the idea to rename the center, it was First District Councilman Robert Garcia who brought the idea to fruition, along with assistance from local Latino organizations Centro Cha and Centro Shalom, by securing the City Council’s support for the effort.
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First District Councilman Robert Garcia, right, announces to the crowd and state Sen. Jenny Oropeza’s family, at left, that a traditional corrido, or Mexican ballad, has been written in Oropeza’s honor and is about to be performed Thursday during a ceremony renaming the community center at Cesar Chavez Park after Oropeza, who died last year.
State Sen. Jenny Oropeza’s sister, Lynne, second from left, and mother, Sharon, second from right, speak with an unidentified man Thursday following the unveiling of new signage and a plaque renaming the community center at Cesar Chavez Park in the late Oropeza’s honor.
State Sen. Jenny Oropeza, 1957 – 2010
This plaque is affixed to a pillar outside the front doors of the newly renamed Jenny Oropeza Community Center, which was dedicated during an unveiling ceremony at Cesar Chavez Park Thursday.