Rep. Raúl Grijalva's memorial service: 'His moral compass stood strong'

He was a man who made sure that when he was in a room talking policy with decisionmakers, those who weren’t in the room were never forgotten.

He was the kind of man who if you were talking with him for the first time, you would never know he was one of the most powerful members in Congress.

And he was a champion of addressing the rights of Indigenous communities, not least of which were Arizona’s 22 tribes and Native nations.

These and other words of near-reverence filled the air Wednesday at a memorial service for longtime U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva at St. Augustine Cathedral in downtown Tucson. Grijalva died March 13 at age 77 of complications from treatment for lung cancer, his office has said.

Gov. Katie Hobbs, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, former Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York took turns describing the late Democratic congressman as one who fought unstintingly for social and environmental justice while attending to a devoted family.

Among those watching from the nearly packed pews, which can hold about 1,250 people, were about 50 members of Congress — enough that “it took two planes to get them here,” Pelosi told the gathering.

Ocasio-Cortez recounted Grijalva’s upbringing as the son of a bracero immigrant who lived on Canoa Ranch south of Green Valley, where the future congressman and his parents stayed until he was 5.

“He was a self-confessed mama’s boy,” Ocasio-Cortez said, then promptly segued into a story about a crucial interaction Grijalva had with his mother, Rafaela, while in middle school that changed his outlook on life.

“When Raúl was in the 7th or 8th grade or so, he was given a prestigious award. The school told him to invite his parents, but he let the ceremony go by without telling his mother. In those early adolescent years, he felt embarrassed because she couldn’t quite speak English, and all the other parents could, an experience many bilingual children can relate to.”

After three months passed, his mom turned to Grijalva and asked, “’How did the award go?’ She knew,” the congresswoman said.

“She told Raúl, ‘Mira (Spanish for “look” or “see,”) don’t forget you were born with a nopal, a cactus leaf on your forehead; and that’s you. That’s who you are, and you should never be embarrassed about it,’” Ocasio-Cortez said. The nopal, or prickly pear, symbolizes resilience, sustenance and national identity in Mexican and Mesoamerican cultures.

“That moment changed Raúl,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “He spoke of how it prompted him to be more conscious of how people treated one another and what issues he pursued.”

Pelosi quoted U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix’s description of Grijalva as a man with “moral clarity of purpose and kindness. Whether you were staff or speaker, everyone was treated the same. He called me boss. I called him boss.”

When he was chair of of the House Natural Resources Committee, Grijalva was “a tireless voice for protecting the beauty of God’s creation and for advancing environmental justice for all,” Pelosi said. “He did so as a prolific legislator, standing with tribes to win permanent protection for the Grand Canyon.”

And he led the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, “one of the most significant environmental conservation acts in a very long time,” Pelosi said. The act approved permanent funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses oil industry-based revenues to pay for major land acquisitions.

“I was particularly grateful” when he brought the perspective of the congressional Hispanic and Progressive causes into the debate over the Affordable Care Act that passed in 2010, Pelosi said.

“He was very central to all of that,” she said. “Thanks to Raúl, our future is brighter and more durable, and more represents our nation’s beautiful diversity.”

Haaland, a U.S. representative from New Mexico before becoming Interior secretary in 2021, noted that she served as vice chair to Grijalva on the Natural Resources Committee and was also chair of a subcommittee on national forests and public lands.

“I’m honored to be with you all as we mourn the loss of a voice of conscience on the national stage,” said Haaland.

“There was generally not a day that went when I didn’t see Mr. Grijalva in my office or his office or for posole for the season. His doodled images he would draw reflected his quick wit. His moral compass stood strong,” said Haaland.

“He was unwavering in his work to protect air, land and water, and to protect tribal communities. He set a constructive tone for contentious hearings. He pointed out hypocrisy when he saw it. He led things in the right way and set up the ladder for others to climb, always in the name of those who can’t stand up for themselves.”

Grijalva was driven by a basic belief in the goodness of people, Hobbs told the service.

“Throughout his time in public office, he never forgot why he was there,” Hobbs said. “From his early days as a TUSD (Tucson Unified School District) board member, in his time on the Pima County Board (of Supervisors) and finally in the halls of Congress, Congressman Grijalva dedicated his life to uplifting others.

“As the dean of the Arizona delegation, he understood that his duty was not to politics but to the people of Arizona. His courage and integrity were unwavering,” Hobbs said.

Perhaps the loudest applause from the crowd attending the service came when his daughters Raquel, Adelita and Marisa shared personal recollections of their father.

Raquel recalled her father’s mischievous streak, going back to his childhood when he used to drive his mother and sisters crazy with his imitations of TV’s Three Stooges. When the three daughters were young, their father once told them a scary story of a dismembered hairy hand, she said. Then, “he tucked us into bed and took the extra mile to go outside and scratch our bedroom window. We were only slightly traumatized in the process.”

When he had grandchildren, “he took the opportunity to spoil them rotten, and on the south side that meant Mexi-Pops, noisy instruments and googly eyeglasses.”

Daughter Adelita noted her recent surprise upon reading in Wikipedia that her father was a hiker. For despite his decades of efforts to protect public lands, “a hiker he was not.”

Yard sales were more his thing, along with gift shops, flea markets and craft fairs,” she said. “He was also a great cook, the kind who could throw together delicious meals from whatever was in the refrigerator.”

But the most brilliant thing Grijalva ever did “was fall in love with our mama, Ramona,” said Adelita, now chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

“In her he found a caring, funny partner to build a family with, a tireless dance partner and a steadfast support who never gave up on him.”