Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Services for Senator Jorge Luis Garcia will be as follows:
Visitation will be at Carillo's Tucson Mortuary, 204 S. Stone Avenue, just south of downtown, on Thursday, October 21st, from 5-10:00 p.m. The rosary will begin at 7:00 p.m.
A Funeral Mass will be held at Saints Peter and Paul Parish, 1946 E. Lee Street, located across from UMC on the Northeast corner of Lee and Campbell Avenue, on Friday, October 22nd at 10:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, Jorge would want donations to go to organizations that help others. The designated charities are the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Tucson (www.svdptucson.org) and Catholic Tuition Support Organization (www.ctso-tucson.com).
UPDATE: The Arizona Republic had a nice editorial tribute to Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia. He was a champion of the little guy:
Arizona has lost a quiet champion of the little guy.
Jorge Luis Garcia, the state Senate minority leader, looked out for children, underserved Arizonans, the sick and the forgotten.
He was, as one lawmaker put it, "the anchor" for the caucus, keeping his fellow Democrats firmly grounded in the needs of the Arizonans they represented.
The Tucson legislator's commitment showed in his regular occupation: director of social services for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. He was running for the Arizona Corporation Commission when he died of heart failure last Friday at the age of 57.
At the Legislature, Garcia was tireless and willing to work across the aisle. He didn't seek the political spotlight or tailor his positions to fit the polls. He was hard-working, principled and resolutely independent. More than once, he cast the sole Democratic vote for a bill.
The closing to his e-mails was always the same, no matter how contentious the issue: "Have a peaceful day."
Garcia once named his mother as his biggest influence, with her credo: "You got to do the right things in life and you got to work hard." He followed that philosophy fully. Arizona is better for his leadership and his example.
The Arizona Daily Star wrote about their endorsement interview with Sen. Garcia and managed only a single paragraph in tribute to the man. Minority Leader Garcia's passing is loss for Southern Arizona – we'll miss him:
We admired and respected Garcia. Southern Arizona will miss his service, his independent mind, his soft voice and his keen intelligence.
The Pima County Democratic Party has issued the following statement:
The Pima County Democratic Party mourns the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Senator Jorge Luis García, who passed away last Friday due to complications from a chronic heart condition. He was 57 years old.
Mr. García fought tirelessly for the Democratic cause. In his capacity as a state senator, and most recently as Senate Minority Leader, Mr. García was well known for his firm convictions, his leadership, and his outstanding personal character, as well as his ability to work across the aisle to achieve necessary results. Mr. García continued to defend the interests of consumers, workers, and the environment during his 2010 race for Arizona Corporation Commission. He campaigned tirelessly, reaching out to Arizonans to hear their concerns and discuss how to improve the state he so loved.
Senator García was a kind, compassionate man who stood up for those in need. We will miss him dearly.
UPDATE II: The Tucson Weekly has a nice editorial tribute today to Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia. Goodbye, Jorge:
Condolences to the family and friends of state Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia, who represented the west side of Tucson for the last eight years.
The soft-spoken lawmaker's passing last week at a much-too-young 57 silenced one of the Arizona Legislature's most progressive voices.
Garcia's recent campaign for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission demonstrated that he didn't bend to political trends. He was the only candidate in the race to call for increasing the state's alternative-fuel standard, which mandates that 15 percent of electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2025.
While that standard might be forward-thinking in backwards Arizona, it lags significantly behind those of many other states. By standing for a substantial increase in the use of solar power (which ought to be simple enough in this sunny state), Garcia was the lone ACC candidate to push to bring Arizona's approach to generating energy into the 21st century.
That's the kind of thinking we need to compete for the green jobs of the future instead of the service jobs of the past. For his courageous stand on this and many other political issues, Garcia will be sorely missed.
"The people of Southern Arizona have lost a tremendous advocate and he'll be sorely missed at the Legislature," says Rep. Matt Heinz. "He put solving problems ahead of partisanship, always."
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