The pews inside the church at 171 S Gless Street were full, as people crowded near the front and side entrances of the building. Community members, family, and friends of the late Rosa Maria Campos, 73, all wanted to pay their respects to the neighborhood leader Friday evening.
Campos, who was one of the founding members of Proyecto Pastoral, a Boyle Heights non-profit that focuses on community building and social justice, passed on March 28th after decades of serving the Eastside community.
She devoted much of her life to creating a safe community for youth and impacted countless lives through her work with Proyecto Pastoral and as a volunteer for Comunidad en Movimiento, Proyecto’s organizing and civic engagement component that promotes safety, health, and leadership within the community.
Father Greg Boyle led the rosary service at Dolores Mission Friday evening. He and almost 200 Campos friends and family members sang and prayed in Spanish together, honoring and paying respect to the community leader.
“She was always luchando, you know? She was incomparable,” Boyle said solemnly. “But it was always kind of a quiet, steady, love and kindness. She recognized that kindness is the only strength there is.”
Campos was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and came to Boyle Heights in 1968 as a teenager. By the time she met 16-year-old Joe Diaz in the late 1980s, her reputation as a civil leader preceded her.
“She was like a tía to the community,” Diaz, now 51, said. She was a woman who fought for community rights and a safer community. It was women like her who weren’t afraid to approach a gang member and say, ‘Mijo, you don’t have to be like this,’” Diaz said of the faith she had in her Boyle Heights and Pico-Aliso communities.
Diaz recalled anti-gang sentiments held by many in the 1990s but saw Campos engage with troubled youth despite the stigma. She wanted to interact with gang members to better their lives and keep the community safe.
Having faith in her neighbors and loving in a brave way is what set Campos apart, according to Proyecto’s current Executive Director, Raquel Roman.
“She’s definitely our north star,” Roman said, referring to her unyielding commitment to the youth in Boyle Heights. Seeing her do that every day is like seeing a hero in our everyday lives. She was a model for me. That love and grace, when it’s given to you, it’s easier to give to others.”
Roman remembered when she first started at Proyecto Pastoral close to 15 years ago. Roman was working late hours and adjusting to her new life and new staff, and Campos would open her home for her to rest.
“That’s who she was. She would welcome a stranger into her home and care for them. That was what real community meant, and I had never experienced that,” Roman said.
As the prayer service came to a close, Campos’ two daughters, Grace Campos and Rosa Maria Ibarra, were busy preparing floral arrangements for Saturday’s funeral service. They both agreed one of the best things about their mom was that they were able to share her with their whole community.
“What was important to her was important to us. She instilled that in us,” Grace Campos said. “She was really the one to challenge what was going on in our community and really model with other women to bring them out of their homes and fight for the rights of women and children.”
Ibarra quoted her mother, saying that one of her favorite phrases was “Puro love.”
“We’re animadoras, luchadoras, boss ladies, all that,” Ibarra added. “She taught us all that,” Grace smiled as she agreed.
Campos is survived by her eleven grandchildren and six children, Ricardo, Rosa Maria, Marco, Grace, Juan, and Robert.
Thank you so much for this. So beautiful! I will share with everyone I know!
Grace Campos
Greatly written. Thanks for your presence in capturing the event and the meaning so well. Sorry for not being able to connect. She’d be proud to have any of the story retold for anyone reading to support positive change.