Today the Pima County Board of Supervisors named the Mission Branch of the Pima County Public Library after my best friend Richard Elias. Richard had been a member of the Board since 2002, and over the years, he remained a very strong supporter of libraries. He passed away suddenly on March 28 of this year. From this day forward, the Mission branch will be known as the Richard Elias Mission Library.
A proclamation was drawn up in his honor and read by Supervisor Ramon Valadez, current chair of the Board.
County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry wrote the following memorandum about the renaming:
Richard’s daughter Luz spoke, as did Mayor Regina Romero, who read the proclamation that U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva wrote and read before the U.S. Congress shortly after Richard died.
Also on hand were Richard’s assistant Keith Bagwell, Tucson City Council members Lane Santa Cruz and Richard Fimbres, Richard’s brother Albert, TUSD Board Member Adelita Grijalva, and Arizona House member Andres Cano, among others.
Supervisor Betty Villegas also read a statement on my behalf that I submitted to her beforehand. I was very honored to be included in this ceremonious occasion. I know Richard would’ve been quite thrilled that a library was named after him.
As Richard would always say, “Resist, much love…
Thank you for posting this. Much love, Bobby.
Thank you Bobby. When I heard this today it gave me real joy. Richard was simply the best.
I came across this blog, because I google searched “Richard Elias Library.” I wanted to show my mother (Barbara Allen) a newspaper article honoring her friend, Richard. Instead, I came across this wonderful blog post! I loved running into Richard at community events, because whenever I introduced myself as “Clare” named after Sister Clare, Richard would get so happy and made me feel so powerful and special just because of my name. Thank you for sharing, this is better than any article that would be in the newspaper, and my mother says hi!
Hi there, Clare. Thanks so much for leaving your comment. I’m so glad that the blog post got picked up by the internet search engines so quickly! I too remember Sister Clare. She was a wonderful person and one of my favorite teachers when I was at Salpointe. I took an evening class with her one semester, and she gave me rides home all the time.Your mom loved her dearly too. I miss your mom. She and I worked together at the UA Library for many years. I hope all is well with her. Please say hello to her for me. Thanks!