Victor Valley High School building to be named after educator, veteran Felix Diaz

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
·3 min read
Victor Valley High School will honor the late educator and Army veteran Felix Diaz by naming its administration building after the community leader.
Victor Valley High School will honor the late educator and Army veteran Felix Diaz by naming its administration building after the community leader.

Victor Valley High School will honor the late educator and Army veteran Felix Diaz by naming its administration building after the community leader.

The dedication of the Lt. Col. Feliz. G. Diaz Administration Building is scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan. 6 at the high school, located at 16500 Mojave Dr.

Diaz, who was born in Hesperia in 1934 and moved to Victorville the following year, died in Oct. 2021 after a lengthy illness. He was 87, the Daily Press reported.

“After 32 years of marriage, Felix is now resting in the arms of his Lord and Savior,” Margaret Diaz told the Daily Press. “Felix’s faith was very strong and he loved God.”

Dedicated to education, public service

Diaz began a 46-year teaching career in 1961, teaching multiple grade levels, from kindergarten to college, with stints at schools in Adelanto and Victorville. He also taught at Victor Valley College for 23 years.

Diaz coached college basketball for eight years, and football and track at Victor Valley High for eight years.

He also participated in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and founded the Felix G. Diaz Mariachi Music Festival in 2015.

He was also appointed to the San Bernardino County Fair Board.

Victor Valley High School will honor the late educator and Army veteran Felix Diaz by naming its administration building after the community leader.
Victor Valley High School will honor the late educator and Army veteran Felix Diaz by naming its administration building after the community leader.

Diaz was elected to the Victorville City Council in November 1992 and served four years. He also served as a member of the Victor Valley Union High School District Board in the early 1980s.

Margaret Diaz said her husband loved to work with the California Cadet Corps, a youth organization open to students beginning in elementary school and extending into college.

Marcelino “Chico” Garza, a retired special assistant to the San Bernardino County Schools Superintendent Ted Alejandre, told the Daily Press that Diaz was his best friend.

Garza and Diaz were part of the nonprofit Los Dorados del Valle Charro Group, which helped raise scholarship funds for Hispanic children to attend Victor Valley College.

Garza described Diaz as a “patriot and advocate for veterans,” who created the Old Town Victorville Veterans Memorial that city officials unveiled in 1996 on the corner of Seventh Street and Forrest Avenue.

'Man of passion and determination'

Lydia Usry of Victorville said her cousin Felix was “a man of passion and determination.”

“Education wasn’t Felix’s first thought in a career, but I believe it was something that God put into his heart and Felix did good,” said Usry, the lead nursing instructor at the Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing.

Usry said to estimate how many lives Diaz transformed would easily be in the thousands.

“The lives he touched became future educators, law enforcement and including a past sheriff for San Bernardino County, military, and leaders in the Cadet Corps and future nurses,” Usry said. “And so the transformation continues.”

She added that Diaz will continue to be remembered by those he helped along the way to achieve their dreams.

“My dream was to become a registered nurse at a time when there was no school of nursing in the Victor Valley until he helped Victor Valley College to open its first doors,” Usry said. “I will always be eternally grateful.”

Usry said the dedication of Victor Valley High School’s administration building gives honor and respect for all Diaz did in his movement to help those in the High Desert toachieve their dreams.

“Thank you to administrators, VVHS Principal Chris Cusino, and the school board for this dedication,” she added.

The late Army veteran Felix Diaz holds a Purple Heart that was found in the desert near the historic Oro Grande Cemetery in this 2018 photo. The medal belonged to Manuel P. Rodriquez, an Oro Grande resident who died in World War II.
The late Army veteran Felix Diaz holds a Purple Heart that was found in the desert near the historic Oro Grande Cemetery in this 2018 photo. The medal belonged to Manuel P. Rodriquez, an Oro Grande resident who died in World War II.

‘Footprints from the Barrio’

In his book, “Footprints from the Barrio,” Diaz chronicled his life growing up in the 1930s and '40s in the E Street barrio north of the railroad tracks in downtown Victorville.

Diaz attended Antelope Valley Junior College and in the mid-1950s, was drafted into the Army, where he served two years and returned to Victorville in 1959.

He received an associate's degree from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria in 1961 and earned a bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles in 1967.

In 1971, Diaz received his master's degree from Chapman College in Orange.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victor Valley High School building named after teacher, veteran Felix Diaz