Mark Guerra; Held State Employment Posts
Mark Guerra, former director of the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing and a longtime figure on the civil rights scene, has died while vacationing in Mexico.
Brian McGee, a spokesman for Darling-Fischer Campbell Memorial Chapel, said Tuesday that Guerra, the son of a Texas farmer died, Saturday of an apparent heart attack in Merida, Mexico. His wife, Marie, was with him.
Guerra, 71, served two Republican governors. He was one of seven members of the California Fair Employment Practices Commission under Gov. Ronald Reagan before resigning in 1975 and led the state employment and housing division under Gov. George Deukmejian from 1983 to 1987.
He resigned from the employment practices commission because of what he said was “deplorable” inaction on Latino problems.
Guerra was a graduate of San Jose State University and earned a master’s degree from Stanford University. He taught and held administrative posts in Santa Clara County schools before being appointed by President Richard M. Nixon to the National Council on Extension and Continuing Education.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, three sons and 10 grandchildren.
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