Local resident, Eleanor Valadez recently was honored as the 2005 National LULAC Women’s Hall of Fame recipient.

Valadez, has been a member of LULAC for 18 years, and one of 10 founding members of the Duneland Council #5016. She has been the sole cook of several items that the organization sells at festivals. She uses her home to prepare the meat, beans, pirogues and nut rolls, even though others have offered to help.

She also has been active at the State level, having served as Deputy State Director for the Elderly for four years. She dedicates her efforts to ensure equal rights of the Hispanic elderly, by helping them attain citizenship. She has organized several bake sales and taco luncheons at Hawthorne Park and donates the profits to the elderly. She also has encouraged students from other countries to apply for their citizenship exam.

Valadez has taught at the Portage Adult Education Center and has served for 18 years as head of the art department at St. Patrick Schools in Chesterton and taught English as a Second Language for the LaPorte Adult Education System and Portage Adult Learning Center.

Valadez has served as president and historian of the local AMVETS Andrews Flores Post 171 and has received several awards throughout the years.

Said Alicia Rios, president of LULAC Council #5016 in the nomination letter, “Her motivation is her belief in the mission of the LULAC organization. She believes in the need for the Hispanic people to be treated as equals and she believes all young adults should be able to have a chance for higher education. Her never-ending work at making sure these goals are met is seen by the number of scholarships that our local LULAC council has given out over the last 14 years. Eleanor can almost boast that she has raised nearly $100,000 herself! That works out to almost 100 scholarships to our area students.”

“All of these words cannot even begin to explain why our council feels Mrs. Eleanor Valadez deserves to be placed in the LULAC Women’s Hall of Fame. She is passionate in every aspect of her life, and is an inspiration to each and every person she meets. Eleanor has and will always hold a place in the hearts of many people,” Rios said.

Posted 8/12/2005