Our beloved mother and grandmother, Maria Socorro Mendoza, died on Sunday, March 8, after a life of great love, passion, and faith. She was born in 1937 on the first day of spring in Lockhart, Texas to her father, Encarnación Escalante, a rancher and violinist, and to her mother, Florencia Escalante. She is survived by her children Manny, Steven, and Nancy who love her deeply and have much to be grateful to her for.

She was raised in a large family with five brothers and five sisters. Often she told vivid stories of their adventures and challenges that were funny, awe-inspiring, and remarkable for the resilience and strength they required. Maria was a dutiful daughter and sister whose doors were always open to her family. As children we were often surrounded by our nana and tata, our tías, tíos, and primos. Our home was often filled with their conversation and laughter over the cooking of food.

After moving to Eloy as a girl, she met her soulmate, Manuel Mendoza, and married him at 17. They were a beautiful and stylish couple who loved road trips and dancing with family and friends. Maria became a mother early in life with Manny Jr., followed soon after by Irene, who they lost as a young baby at not yet four months old. With remarkable strength, Manuel and Maria endured this devastating tragedy and went on to grow their family with Steven and Nancy.

Our mother taught us how to hold our heads high. She kept a pristine and comfortable house she loved to decorate with figurines and photographs and colorful details. We were always well-dressed and adoringly cared for. She tried to protect us and prepare us for a difficult and unjust world through manners, education, and Catholicism. She loved us fiercely and would have done anything to see us happy, healthy, and eventually welcomed into heaven.

Maria and Manny raised their children in Tucson, witnessing and contributing to its evolution over many decades. Having experienced unfairness and deprivation as a child, Maria was focused on making positive change and advocating for children so that they would not be deprived of the ability to pursue their dreams and fulfill their God-given promise and potential. With keen intelligence and fierce tenacity, she took on segregation and education policies in Tucson she believed were racist and led to disadvantages for minority children.

Impressively, on behalf of the city’s Mexican American students, she became a lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit to desegregate the Tucson Unified School District. The case, filed in 1974, culminated in a 1978 desegregation order issued by federal judge William C. Frey. In a 223-page opinion, the court ordered sweeping reforms in the district’s schools including a pilot program in which a single elementary school class be taught to read via the Spalding Method. She had fought for this phonics-based curriculum for over a decade as part of her work with Mexican Americans for Equal Education and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

Bravely, Maria charged into an epic cultural fight over the right way to teach children to read that parents, teachers, politicians, publishers, and academics had engaged in for over a century — and she won. All the children in this classroom, including her daughter, were transformed by the experience. Through her persistence and vision, she not only reshaped the education of Tucson’s children but left a lasting mark on the broader debate over how reading should be taught.

Lastly, it is impossible to remember our mother without honoring her immense faith and commitment to God and the Traditional Latin Mass. For herself and her family, and together with like-minded Catholics, she sought a priest ordained before the changes brought by the Second Vatican Council. They found Father Blanco, who traveled to Tucson monthly to celebrate the Mass in Latin. Ever willing to serve as a soldier of God, she cared for all of the altar cloths and vestments, starching them for hours at a time and steadfastly safeguarding them so they remained in perfect order while the Father was away.

She taught us the importance of believing in a power greater than ourselves and that we should always be grateful for what we had. She reminded us constantly that there were others less fortunate than ourselves and urged us to be generous and loving toward strangers. She made sure that her children made their First Communion and were confirmed, and that it was a joyful event to be connected to God’s grace and glory. She taught us to see beauty.

Maria lived a long and full life. She had many grandchildren and great grandchildren she was very proud of. She lit up when they visited and delighted in hearing their voices on the phone.

It was difficult to see her without our father after he passed last year. We are grateful that they are reunited and can return to holding hands and joking with one another as they often did. Not many people can say they were married for over 70 years. We wish them eternal happiness and peace.

May we all be inspired by Maria’s deep love and commitment, and by what she accomplished in her life. She was an exceptional woman of great integrity, and we will profoundly miss her.

Please join the family on Tuesday, March 17th at Carillo’s Mortuary.

· The visitation is between 8 and 9 am.

· A Rosary and Mass will follow at 9:30 am at St. Augustine's Cathedral.

· The interment will be at 11:30 am at Holy Hope Cemetery.

The day will end with a reception at Maria’s son Manny Jr.’s house.