EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Co-founder of United Farm Workers and labor rights activist Dolores Huerta died, her family announced on social media Wednesday. She was 96 years old.

“We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning,” her family wrote on social media.

El Paso has shown its appreciation for Huerta’s impact on labor rights. In Lincoln Park – El Paso’s Chicano Park, artists painted her on one of the structural beams supporting the highway above the park.

Her image is one of many murals at the park symbolizing Chicano history.

The Mexican American Cultural Center, located in Downtown El Paso, said Huerta’s “courage reminds us of the importance of working with community to elevate our struggles, giving voice to our shared humanity, and finding ways to carry that work forward.”

Huerta spent more than six decades fighting for fair wages, healthcare benefits, and gender equality across the nation.

For local educators who worked alongside her family, her loss marks both a solemn moment of reflection and a renewed call to action.

Karina Echavarri a Mexican American Studies teacher at Franklin High school worked closely with Huerta’s daughter.

“Dolores has been in the movement for 65 years. And I feel that it’s a very, very sad day for us. But I also feel it’s a day to ignite us even more and to continue with the torch and to continue our activism and our community engagement. And the Lord has always said, Si, Se Puede.” Said Echavarri.

At La Mujer Obrera in Central El Paso, community workers added Huerta to their memorial ofrenda to commemorate her lifelong dedication to garment workers, farmworkers, and working families.

“She walked with the workers,” said Lorena Andrade, director of La Mujer Obrera. “She walked with women—men and women that are workers, some that are invisible, or made invisible, to a community like the garment workers here in El Paso and the farmworkers all over the country. And that’s one of the biggest examples: that you walk with the community and that you stay for the long term.”

Her impact remains deeply felt across El Paso, from local labor organizing to the vibrant murals depicting her portrait at Lincoln Park in Central El Paso.

“And she didn’t stop,” Echavarri added. “She never stopped.”

A community vigil for Huerta will start at Lincoln Park – El Paso’s Chicano Park Wednesday at 6 p.m. The park is located at 4001 Duranzo Ave.