A minister who worked alongside Cesar Chavez remembered him as a dedicated leader during a Friday, March 29, breakfast in the labor leader’s honor.

Despite the buildup surrounding Chavez during his peak years of activism, retired Presbyterian minister Wayne “Chris” Hartmire remembers him as composed.

“He had a quiet way of talking about what was going on,” Hartmire said. “People expected him to be more charismatic … but his life was true to his words.”

Hartmire was keynote speaker at the Riverside Latino Network’s 14th annual Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Breakfast at the Riverside Marriott. Hartmire was introduced by network board member Art Alcaraz, who spoke of the worthy cause of remembering Chavez and all he did for farm workers.

“Cesar was a man of the people, by the people and for the people … We have a dream of continuing his legacy,” Alcaraz said.

Riverside Latino Network President Ofelia Valdez-Yeager announced that the network has met its original goal of $350,000 for a memorial statue of Chavez to be erected downtown, but said the group must raise $73,000 more. The statue will be unveiled Saturday, June 8, she said.

“On this Good Friday, we ask you to reflect on sacrifice,” she said.

Hartmire worked as director of the California Migrant Ministry in 1961. The ministry tried to provide things that were desperately needed in farming communities: education, healthcare and childcare and entertainment. But, he said, the result was not a long-term solution.

“We knew that year after year, we were not changing the lives of farm workers. Their lives would not change until they could organize … then Cesar came along,” he said.

Hartmire got to know Chavez while serving as the California Migrant Ministry director, as well as through his involvement with other organizations, including the National Farmworker Ministry and the United Farm Workers of America.

“In work, Cesar did not have friends … He had family and he had close work associates,” said Hartmire, who moved to Claremont in 2003 and continues to work in activism in Southern California. “We were those.”

Hartmire played a large role in helping Chavez fundraise, as well as raising awareness of the harsh conditions of farm life among churchgoers. He said that the church people he spoke with expressed a strong interest in the workers’ plight, and would often observe strikes and talk with farm workers, sometimes even being arrested with protesters.

“Partly through church involvement, the word got out,” he said.

For information on Latino Network or to make a donation to the statue fund, visit http://www.riversidelatinonetwork.org/