By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Rochelle Mangual, who began her career as a civil servant working at the City University of New York, passed away on Aug. 13.

Mangual worked at Hunter College in the Bursar’s Office and was a member of City University of New York and Educational Opportunity Centers Local 384. Shortly after joining the city workforce, she became active in the union and served as a shop steward and executive board member.

In 1999, Mangual retired, and in the following year she became active in the DC 37 Retirees Association. She served as the associate recording secretary and in May 2013 Mangual became president of the 27,000 member association.

Mangual played a role in several committees that advocated on behalf of senior citizens. She was a member of the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee for the Metropolitan Transit Authority and was also the community director for the local chapter of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans.

“Even after leaving the presidency of the Retirees Association, Rochelle kept the members in her heart and in her mind,” the association’s current president, Ed Hysyk, said. “She was a tireless fighter for seniors.

The DC 37 Blog is an online publication of District Council 37, AFSCME, which represents 125,000 municipal employees in New York City. This article originally appeared in the October 2018 issue of Public Employee Press.