Armando M. Rodriguez, a Mexican immigrant and World War II veteran who served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents while pressing for civil rights and education reforms, has died.
Christy Rodriguez, his daughter, said Wednesday her father died Sunday at their San Diego home from complications of a stroke. He was 97. He had been ailing from a variety of illnesses in recent years, she said.
Born in Gomez Palacio, Mexico, Rodriguez came to San Diego with his family as a 6-year-old in 1927. But he was forced to return to Mexico after his father was deported during the mass deportations of the 1930s during the Great Depression. A young Rodriguez lived in Mexico for a year before the family could return.
FILE - In this May 5, 1969, file photo, Armando Rodriguez, foreground, director of the Office of Education, part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, lead demonstrators in front of the Columbia Broadcasting Company's Washington studios protest what they called "the mass media's continued discrimination and demeaning characterizations of Mexican-Americans." Rodriguez, a Mexican immigrant and World War II veteran went on served under four American presidents while pressing for civil rights, died Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019. He was 97. (AP PhotoBob Daugherty, File)
"He barely spoke Spanish," Christy Rodriguez said.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, some of his Mexican immigrant friends fled to Mexico to avoid military service. Rodriguez, however, joined the U.S. Army. "It was not a difficult choice," Rodriguez told the Voces Oral History Project at the University of Texas in August 2000.
Following the war, Rodriguez graduated from San Diego State University and worked as a teacher and joined the Mexican-American civil rights movement after witnessing his fellow Latino veterans being denied house and facing discrimination.
He led Southern California's Viva Kennedy campaign, the effort to increase Latino voter support for John F. Kennedy's presidential run in 1960. Rodriguez founded a chapter of the veterans' American GI Forum civil rights group in San Diego as a junior high school teacher.
President Lyndon Johnson appointed him chief of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare's Office of Spanish Speaking American Affairs. President Richard Nixon later named him assistant commissioner of education in the Office of Regional Office Coordination.
Rodriguez returned to California to become the first Latino president of East L.A. College. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Rodriguez continued to serve on the commission under President Ronald Reagan until stepping down in 1983.
Later in life, Rodriguez continued to advocate for educational opportunities for Latinos. But Rodriguez told the Voces Oral History Project that he had always wished he has been able to do more.
"The legacy you leave is what you were worth while you were here," Rodriguez said.
Associated Press Writer Russell Contreras is a member of The Associated Press' race and ethnicity team. Follow Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras
PHOENIX (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers, Dylan Cease pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and the San Diego Padres won their third game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Friday night.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer. Cronenworth finished with three extra-base hits, adding two doubles.
The Padres had a big offensive game on the same night they learned they might be adding another good hitter. San Diego is close to acquiring two-time batting champion Luis Arráez in a deal with the Marlins.
“I think it's great — you're always looking for more offense and a left-handed bat to balance out the lineup,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “But listen, nothing's official. We'll leave it at that.”
The Diamondbacks have lost 10 straight series openers after beating the Colorado Rockies on opening day.
D-backs pitcher Slade Cecconi (1-2) retired the first nine batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Jurickson Profar walked to start the inning and Tatis launched a shot to left-center — his seventh homer of the season.
Cronenworth followed with another homer to make it 3-0 and rookie Jackson Merrill broke an 0-for-20 stretch at the plate with a one-out RBI double for a 4-0 lead.
Cronenworth had a down 2023 season, but has looked much more like the hitter who was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 through the first month of this season. He's batting .279 with six homers and 25 RBIs.
It was Cronenworth’s second straight game with a homer. He hit a grand slam in the team’s 6-2 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.
“It's the right approach with the right swing,” Shildt said. “He's married both. He's driving the ball to all different parts of the field and not trying to do to much.”
Cecconi didn't make it out of the fifth, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings.
The Padres' three-homer outburst provided plenty of support for Cease (4-2), the hard-throwing right-hander who gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight. He didn't allow a walk.
“I think my fastball command was a lot better, which is really a lot of the battle,” Cease said. “When I'm getting my fastball where it needs to go, it opens up a lot of stuff.”
Machado made it 7-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer to left center off reliever Matt Bowman. The scorched line drive came off Machado's bat at 111.7 mph.
The sliding D-backs — defending National League champions — have lost 10 of their past 15 games and fell to 14-19 for the season.
“We got beat tonight,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "We got out-managed, we got out-pitched, we got out-hit, we got out-coached. We've got to find a way to get the job done and play our type of baseball. That's the bottom line.
“We're grinding away. We're trying.”
Arizona finished with just three hits. Eugenio Suárez had an RBI single in the fifth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Lovullo told reporters that closer Paul Sewald (oblique) and OF Alex Thomas (hamstring) could return to the active roster as soon as Tuesday against the Reds.
UP NEXT
The D-backs will throw RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 4.63 ERA) while the Padres will counter with RHP Michael King (2-3, 5.00 ERA) on Saturday night.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, celebrates his double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, front right, of South Korea, and umpire Phil Cuzzi (10) look for the baseball during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt watches the action on the field during the second inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado (13) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run as Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, left, pauses at first base during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Matt Bowman, center, rubs up a new baseball after giving up a two-run home run to San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado points to the sky as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, right, slides safely into second base with a double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, of South Korea, applies a late tag during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., right, celebrates his two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Padres' Manny Machado (13) during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
