Ricardo Garcia

Ricardo Romano García, 85, was born on August 24, 1938 in San Diego, Texas, and departed this earth on March 30, 2024 after a short hospitalization with Covid. He was preceded in death by his parents, Moisés García and Antonia Romano, and by his beloved wife of 60 years, Mónica Díaz García. Ricardo left Texas after graduating from San Diego High School in 1957 to join the US Army. He was stationed at Ft Ord, CA, followed by South Korea before returning stateside to Lewis-McChord AFB, and then the Yakima Training Center. He met Mónica at a dance in Toppenish, WA in 1961 and they were married on June 23,1962 in Wapato. He attended Yakima Valley College and transferred to Central Washington University where he graduated with a degree in Sociology. He spent the next 40 years in various capacities, primarily advocating for farmworker civil rights and benefits in the Yakima Valley, and championing social justice. Inspired by his early involvement with the Cursillo movement, he participated in community based organizations that were being started through the war on poverty under the Lyndon B Johnson administration. He was strongly committed to Dr Martin Luther King Jr's stance on non-violent activism, and met many of his closest friends at this time of social change, helping to organize a UFW affiliate in Yakima. In 1979, he co-founded what would become his most enduring legacy, Radio KDNA, a Spanish language public radio station in Granger, WA where he also served as manager until his retirement. A personal highlight was when César Chávez came to Washington state in the early 80s and after visiting the radio station, used it as a model for other stations he launched in California. During his career, he was on the board of Yakima Valley College and El Centro de la Raza in Seattle, promoting Latino visibility and equality. In 1993, he was presented with the William O Douglas lifetime achievement award by the ACLU of Washington, and later that decade served on their board as well. In his spare time, Ricardo liked listening to music from the big band era and Mexican classics from the 40s. He possessed a keen sense of humor and was passionate about lending a helping hand to people who were less fortunate. He had a collection of Don Quixote memorabilia, classic model cars, and bobble heads, reflecting his love of baseball and other spectator sports. Above all, he radiated a gentle kindness and openness to most everyone he met and was able to work with people from varied backgrounds by striving to find common ground. Throughout his life, he took his wife and children back to his native south Texas to visit his relatives and former classmates, many of whom resided in Corpus Christi. When it was necessary, he would go alone to care for his elders, out of the devotion he felt towards all of them, as an only child. Mr García is survived by his children René (Peter) García of Seattle, María (Robbin) Erickson of Wapato, and Eliza (David) Sánchez of Grandview, in addition to his 5 grandchildren, Nicholas (Whitney) Titus, Elise (Jacob) Reynolds, Benjamin Erickson, Julia Sánchez and Mia Sánchez, and 2 great-granddaughters, Aurilya Reina Mónica and Rosalía Anna María. Recitation of the rosary will be held at Valley Hills Funeral Home in Wapato on Thursday, May 16, at 6pm. Funeral mass on Friday, May 17 will take place at 10am at St Peter Claver Church in Wapato. Reception to follow at Radio KDNA in Granger. Memorials may be made to Radio KDNA or the ACLU of WA. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ricardo Garcia, please visit our flower store.