Activist wanted harmony

Mary Agnes Sparkuhl, 87, a 50-year Laguna Beach resident, died at Hoag Hospital May 24 after suffering a fall.

Memorial services were held last weekend at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine, and a grave-side service was held at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside where she joined her husband who passed away in 1999.

“She was a social activist, pioneer of racial integration, a remarkable woman who touched the lives of all who met her,” said her son, Laguna artist Pat Sparkuhl.

She was born June 4, 1919, in Globe, Ariz., and became an activist in 1950 in East Los Angeles, as the new wife of Dr. Konstantin Sparkuhl.

The couple were early fighters for the rights of Mexican Americans.

In 1954, after moving to Maryland, she enrolled as a freshman at Lincoln College, an all-black, all male college. She became one of the first women and white people to break the racial barrier in reverse at the college and was unanimously elected class secretary.

In the 1960s, she stood side-by-side with Cesar Chavez in Delano marching for better working conditions for migrant Hispanic farm workers.

She died in the arms of two granddaughters, Scarlet and Thalia, and her last words were a request that mankind establish “harmony” for all.

Mary is survived by her sister, Anna; sons, Alex, Mike, Ted and Pat; and grandchildren, Scarlet, Thalia, Erin, Cory, Adrian, Allison, Olivia, Andres, Anthony and Matthew.