Hispanic community loses an advocate

Oberlin woman had been columnist for the Journal

The city of Lorain has lost an advocate for its Hispanic population and an active community member who was remembered long after her retirement.

Lucila Balcazar Echeagaray of Oberlin died May 30 after a lifetime of community work and 25 years with the Lorain Public Library System. She was 91.

It was with the library that Echeagaray promoted its Project Libros, an initiative that helped increase English literacy in Lorain County’s Hispanic population, according to Echeagaray’s daughter Judy Echeagaray.

“She did so many things,” Judy Echeagaray said. “I was so amazed that my mom never said no to anything.”

Lucila Echeagaray also worked in the 1970s with the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, where she was integral in the fundraising for Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Oberlin.

An immigrant from Mexican city Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, Lucila Echeagaray was the sixth of eight living children. She was born July 27, 1928.

Lucila Echeagaray studied science and earned degrees from Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City and worked for a pharmaceutical company in Mexico.

Echeagaray met her husband, Ignacio Echeagaray, through her sister Maria Luisa, who was a college classmate.

He lived in the United States at the time working as an engineer for NASA, the two writing letters back and forth for several years before marrying in 1956.

Lucila Echeagaray then moved to Cleveland with her husband, mastering English by taking classes.

“They were just so determined to make it work in this country,” Judy Echeagaray said.

Although learning the English language was very important to her parents, the younger Echeagaray said they made sure they never lost their cultural heritage.

That dedication to the English language landed Echeagaray with a bilingual weekly column in the 1970s in what was then the Lorain Journal.

Echeagaray worked for the library from the early 1970s to late 1990s, being hired as a reference librarian once the Project Libros funds were depleted.

As a part of that initiative, Echeagaray would visit local schools and present bilingual films, put on puppet shows and commit to translation services for literature such as pamphlets.

“I remember that so well,” Judy Echeagaray said. “When she got home, she would bring projector and show the films to us.”

In all Echeagaray’s projects at the library, one goal was in mind.

“The mission was to advocate for the Hispanic population and integrate them to learn English,” her daughter said.

Judy Echeagaray said she hopes the Hispanic community can still learn from what her mother advocated for.

“She was so proud of that,” the daughter said.

Dicken Funeral Home, 323 Middle Ave. in Elyria, is handling the arrangements.

A memorial service will be live streamed at 2 p.m., June 20 at youtu.be/QVYzupE9J6w.

COURTESY - JUDY ECHEAGARAY Lucila Balcazar Echeagaray died last month. She was 91.