GONZALES, Porfirio H.

Arizona lost a civil rights icon last week when Porfirio H. Gonzales died June 29, 2006, at age 90 in Goodyear. An Arizona native, Gonzales was born in Johnson City, but had lived in Tolleson for most of his life. Gonzales was a key player in ending segregation in Arizona schools in the 1950s. A couple of years before Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark law suit that ended desegregation in classrooms across the country, Gonzales joined a handful of other West Valley Hispanics in filing a lawsuit to integrate racially divided schools in Arizona. "He didn't think his daughters [who attended Tolleson Elementary School] needed to be in a situation like that," Marta Pasos said. Pasos was the principal of Tolleson Elementary when the Tolleson Elementary School District voted to change the name of its oldest school to Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School on Nov. 16, 1999. "He led the movement to integrate the schools, and he was an honorable man. He was just so straight forth, and we were delighted to name the school after him," Superintendent Diane Hamilton said. "There were a number of people involved with [the desegregation law suit] - he was not the only one - but he was the individual to file the suit ..." she added. "The board just thought it was fitting to honor the movement to integrate the schools, because segregation was just wrong. Since [Gonzales] filed it, he became the bearer of the name." "They were a brave bunch. Somebody had to put their name in writing ... and that brought in the legal action, and consequently ended up with a law that prohibited segregation [based on] race," Pasos said, adding that Gonzales was one of the "people who made a stand and [made] the world a little bit better." "He was a great man. He belongs to them [the Gonzales family], but he belongs to the community," she added. Gonzales was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Tolleson. He is survived by two daughters, Gloria Villa and Mary Ellen Gannon; one son, Robert Gonzales; seven grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 512 N. 93rd Ave. in Tolleson. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, also at Blessed Sacrament Church. Memorials may be sent to Hospice of the Valley, 9720 W. Peoria Ave., Suite 128, Peoria, AZ 85345. Crystal Rose Funeral Home in Tolleson made the arrangements. Ganley's Buckeye Funeral Home made the arrangements. Source: West Valley View June 30 2006