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Post written by APALA Executive Board Member Van S. Nguyen
Immediately after hearing the tragic news that APALA President and my personal mentor, John Delloro, had unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack, I received a call from a fellow APA union organizer who attempted to comfort me at a moment when pain and grief were the only emotions I could muster. She put John’s legacy into perspective very clearly and simply by stating, “John brought me into the movement too.” If it is true that we can measure one’s legacy by the number of people whose lives they have touched, then John Delloro’s passing does not mark the end, but rather the beginning of a long legacy which will continue on in those he has impacted.
John’s dedication and commitment to serving working people dates back almost two decades, a mission rooted deeply in his own personal story. His mother, a nurse, asked him to tuck his brother into bed as she worked the night shift every night. He brought his passion and rooted values to UCLA where he received his B.A. in Psychology in 1994, and his M.A. in Asian American Studies in 1996. Soon after, John was introduced to APALA as a participant in the APALA Organizing Institute, a program that trains future generations of Asian Pacific American union organizers and community activists.
In his first position in the labor movement, he organized hotel workers in Las Vegas, Nevada with the Culinary Workers Union 226. He went on to organize clerical workers with AFSCME, and health care workers with SEIU 399 in Los Angeles, California. While at SEIU 399, he created a member organizer program that trained hundreds of rank and file members who actively participated in external organizing campaigns. In 2003, he was promoted to the Southwest Area Manager of SEIU 1000, the largest state workers union in the country at the time, with close to 100,000 members.
In 2006, John was hired as the first Executive Director of the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute, an organization that works to expand labor studies curriculum within the Los Angeles Community College District, which has over 130,000 students. Under his leadership, the program has strengthened labor studies on all nine campuses, and has exposed thousands of community college students to work, history and progress of unions nationwide. Since 2007, he has also taught Asian American Studies at UCLA, and has inspired and mentored hundreds of students to understand and apply their knowledge and passion through advocacy and community organizing.
Finally, nearly twenty years after participating in his first Organizing Institute, John received the overwhelming support and encouragement of his APALA brothers and sisters to lead the organization that brought him into the labor movement. Members elected John to be one of the youngest National Presidents in APALA’s history. I remember his speech vividly as he approached the microphone to address the members, “I stand on the shoulders of giants, those men and women who have come before me to allow me the opportunity to do the work that I do.”
Though John’s death is both tragic and premature, today, we honor his life and the passion he inspired in all of us to fight for a more fair and just society. If John had the opportunity to share any last words of wisdom with us, my guess is that he’d look no further than an old expression commonly used in the labor movement after a setback or loss: “Don’t mourn. Organize.” We will organize, and we will do it in your honor.
Thank you, John, for the gifts you have brought into this world. We will never forget your enormous contributions.
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John Delloro is survived by his wife Dr. Susan Suh, a sociologist and community activist, and their two young children, Mina and Malcolm.
A public viewing will be held the evenings of Thursday, June 10, 2010 and Friday, June 11, 2010, from 5-9pm at the Mission Hills Catholic Mortuary, located at 11160 Stranwood Ave, Mission Hills, CA 91345.
Funeral services will be private. Per the wishes of the family, there may be a public memorial at a later date.
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Official APALA Press Release on John Delloro here.
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This is a wonderful account of John's life. The circumstances, however, are tragic. My condolences to his wife and his beautiful young children. He was a leader, and he will be remembered.
My condolences to the Delloro Family. It is APIA leaders such as John Delloro, who are often unrecognized in the larger statewide scene, but often make the most tangible contributions to the larger APIA community. I want to thank Mr. Delloro for his leadership and his advocacy for the APIA community.
The first time I had the pleasure of meeting John was on Hollywood Walk To The Docks in April of 2008. It was an arduous, long 3 day- 28 mile hike from Hollywood to San Pedro where he both walked and pushed his daughter, Mina, much of the way in her stroller. It was on that walk I learned what I’d never known or even realized about the labor movement I was now jumping into with both feet. John shared his personal experience how having a mother as a nurse became such a strong influence on him in becoming an organizer and labor activist. John and I became friends and I had the pleasure of being asked to guest speak to his students several times at Dolores Huerta Labor Institute in Hollywood about the Entertainment Unions SAG and AFTRA.
With John’s encouragement, I pursued my AA in Labor Studies at LATTC. John was the best teacher I have ever had, anywhere. This was particularly true when he taught 20 union brothers and sisters from various unions (some at odds with one another) at the Fire Station off of Beverly Blvd downtown about the History of Unions in Los Angeles. John was always involved with what each student’s unions were doing and what our concerns were. He integrated what we were there to learn in a fascinating and encouraging way. Amongst the many things John taught us, one of the most important things was how to balance both sides of the equation. He guided us to not fall prey to emotional judgments or reactions, but instead how to weigh both sides of an argument through role-playing, “management vs union” (in one instance) in order to understand our own causes and how to reach our goals more pragmatically and effectively.
One of the things I loved most about John as a teacher is that you could tell he loved his job, he loved educating and opening minds to what has been, and what can be. He took what seemed improbable and made it achievable.
John also happened to always have this uncanny ability to predict what was going to happen politically or economically in the news. Many of us would return the following week to class to further discuss how these current events would directly affect how we must think about organizing- not just for our respective unions, but also for ourselves and a better tomorrow.
John Delloro indeed did “touch the lives of many and will be remembered for his compassion, his generosity of spirit, and for his visionary leadership” – we have lost a dear friend, a father, and a truly inspiring leader.
My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to his wife and 2 beautiful (and brilliant) children at this impossibly difficult time.
God Bless you John, you will be greatly missed.
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