Raquel S. Guerrero (nee Sánchez) Age 84, of the Pilsen community passed away on February 1, 2019. B eloved wife of the late Jose Acosta Guerrero. Cherished mother of Jose Gilberto (Patricia), Mary Theresa (late Reginald Sterling), Silvia Josie (Stanley Garcia), Estela, Cynthia, Ramiro, Leticia Raquel (Richard J. Frenzel), Hortencia (Juan Cervantes), and Frederico Cardenas. Preceded in death by her son David Xavier and grandson Daniel Gilbert. Proud g randmother of 17 and great grandmother of 19.
Visitation Thursday from 2pm to 8pm at St. Procopius Church, 1200 West 18 th Street. Lying in state Friday from 9am until time of Funeral Mass 10:30am at St. Procopius Church. Burial at St. Mary Cemetery.
Raquel was a leader, organizer and activist for over 40 years in the Pilsen Community, beginning in the late 1960’s. Boycotted lettuce and grapes in the 1970’s in support of Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers of America. Fought against discrimination and demanded the Chicago Board of Education create a bilingual public high school in the Pilsen Neighborhood.
She retired from CPS as the School Community Representative of Benito Juarez Community Academy High School, a school she fought to have built in the 1977. Demanded students be served healthy hot meals at Jirka Elementary School, currently known as Pilsen Community Academy. Advocated for building a Board of Health Clinic located on 17 th and Ashland Avenue in Chicago in 1976. Organizer for the creation of a community library, which became the Rudy Lozano Library in 1988.
Founding member of the 1 st Mexican American Community Festival known as Fiesta Del Sol. Involved in various community issues and fights against the Chicago Transit Authority, Peoples Gas, Cook County Hospital, Board of Education, and the United States Post Office. Past president of Pilsen Neighbors Community Council. Raquel was one of the founders and current president of APO ( Asociación Por Derechos Obreros). She will be greatly missed.
