Margarita Mendez; Latino Community Leader

Margarita Mendez, 70, a veteran social worker and leader in the Latino community. A native of East Los Angeles, Mendez earned degrees from UCLA and USC and worked with the California Youth Authority and the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Teaching part-time at Immaculate Heart College and USC, Mendez spent four years as head of medical social work in pediatrics at County-USC Medical Center. She later worked her way up in the county’s Department of Mental Health to become a district mental health chief. After retiring in 1987, she continued to lecture at colleges and volunteer with organizations such as the Spanish-Speaking Council of Child Abuse and Neglect and the East L.A./Boyle Heights Family Preservation Community Council. She also chaired the county’s Commission for Children and Families. Last year, USC honored Mendez as a “lifetime contributor to social work practice.” On Feb. 26 in Los Angeles of cancer.