Memorial Service for Wallace R. Davis Set for Thursday

Memorial services will be held Thursday for Wallace R. Davis, a Latino rights activist and attorney whose successful lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District in 1968 changed a practice of placing disproportionate numbers of Latino students in a program for the mentally retarded.

Davis, 59, who died Saturday of a heart attack, argued the precedent-setting case before the California Supreme Court that led to culturally neutral entrance examinations for the district’s students, reducing the number of Latinos placed in the program.

Davis, who grew up in Santa Ana, was raised by his grandparents, Candida and Leandro Serrano. He worked in Orange County fields, picking fruits and vegetables during summer vacations throughout grade school.

He worked as a janitor for the Garden Grove School District while attending Cal State Long Beach, where he received his bachelor’s degree in political science. He received a juris doctorate degree from UCLA in 1963.

Davis’ friends and family remember him as a tireless community activist who fought for Latino rights.

When Davis learned there was only one Latino medical student at UC Irvine in 1970, he formed an organization, “Los Padrinos and Las Madrinas” to increase enrollment of minorities there, said insurance broker and friend Fred Flores, who helped organize the group.

Davis, an Army veteran and avid basketball player, was chairman of the local Mexican American Political Assn. in 1969; was chairman of the board of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County in 1972 and president of the Mexican American Bar Assn. of Orange County, an organization that he helped found, in 1979. He lectured on politics and civil rights at UC Irvine and Cal State Long Beach.

He was a partner in the law firm of Davis, Samuelson, Blakely & Goldberg in Costa Mesa until his death.

“Wally certainly was a giant . . . in our community,” said Amin David, chairman of Los Amigos de Orange County, a Latino rights advocacy group. “He was a very decent, honorable family person, one who would shine in the greatest darkness, and we’re going to miss him tremendously.”

Anaheim realtor Ross Romero, president of UCI’s Latino Alumni Assn., remembered Davis as a role model.

“Wally always gave a lot of time to the advancement of Latinos at UCI and he was a person of utmost integrity--a classic role model who showed young Latino professionals how to give back to the community,” Romero said.

Davis is survived by his wife of 33 years, Irmgard 59; children Anja Friday, 32, of Orange; Mark, 31, of Tustin; Luke, 29, of Pasadena; Marisa Timothy, 28, of Westminster; Sabrina, 25, of Santa Ana; Erik, 24, of Santa Ana; and Nadia, 23, of Los Angeles, and six grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the newly formed Wally Davis Scholarship Fund, 1145 S. Birch St., Santa Ana, CA 92707. The money will pay for scholarships for Latino students attending Rancho Santiago College or UC Irvine.

Funeral services will be held at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange at 10 a.m. The burial will follow at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange.