Richard Estrada Chávez, born on November 12, 1929, in Yuma, Arizona, began working in the fields at a young age, and later became a skilled carpenter, working in lumber mills and joining a carpenter’s union apprenticeship program in San José. He moved to Delano in 1952 and worked on residential and commercial projects establishing as a successful carpenter. He organized and became the president of the local chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO), the same organization in which César, Dolores Huerta, Gilbert Padilla, and others learned the community organizing techniques that would serve them in their work establishing the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA).

In 1962, after César quit CSO and moved to Delano, Richard supported his brother’s efforts in organizing farmworkers while continuing his work as a carpenter. That year, he became a founding member of NFWA, and he designed the iconic thunderbird symbol for the union’s flag. Later, on October 25, 1963, Richard took out a $5,600 mortgage against his house and lent $3,500 to help establish the credit union, which offered savings accounts to NFWA members and loans at 1 percent interest per month with no collateral.

In 1966, when the union’s grape strike started, Richard became a full-time member of the union, leading the construction of offices, clinics, and service centers when the union headquarters moved to Forty Acres in Delano. He served as the first director of the National Farm Workers Service Center, which later became the César Chávez Foundation, focusing on affordable housing and operating Radio Campesina.

As Huerta’s partner for more than forty years, they had four children together plus additional 13 kids from previous marriages. After Cesar’s death in 1993, Richard built a pine coffin for his burial in La Paz, with a short-handled hoe placed on top, a dangerous farming tool that was outlawed thanks to the union’s efforts. Richard witnessed when, in 2008, Forty Acres became a National Historic Landmark and he joined UFW representatives, including Dolores Huerta, to meet President Obama in 2010 on Cesar Chávez Day. In 2012, President Obama established the César E. Chávez National Monument in partnership with the César Chávez Foundation. Richard Chávez passed away in Bakersfield, California, on July 27, 2011.