In Memoriam: Lucia Nunez

“If you don’t have your own voice, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Lucia Nunez knew she was many things to many people: Cuban, Latina, daughter, sister, mother, partner, educator, activist, advocate. She was also one of Madison’s most influential LGBTQ changemakers, giving voice to those who felt they had none.

Sadly, Lucia passed away September 30, 2024, in Madison. She is mourned not only by family and friends, but the countless people she’s impacted around the region, country, and world.

“It wasn’t until I came to the U.S. that I ‘became’ Hispanic,” Lucia said in a 2015 interview. “I had never even heard the word."

"As a fifteen year old, I was unbelievably embarrassed by my parents," said Lucia. "I'm not proud of that now, but it was the reality of being raised in a culture that wasn't part of the dominant world.  My mom's accent...my dad's accent...the foods we ate. I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, not arroz con frijoles. I didn't want to be Lucia, I wanted to be Lucy. People didn't know how to pronounce my name. That was painful as a kid."

"It wasn’t until my early twenties that I really understood what identity meant: acceptance of myself and my family.”

At age 16, Lucia went to boarding school in Easthampton, Massachusetts.  She studied political science at Connecticut College and international education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 

"I had been grouped together with other 'minority students,'" said Lucia. "I didn't have that label. That wasn't a label I was used to."

In 1985, she joined the Peace Corps to support women, children, and schools in Honduras, and continued advocating for immigrant youth while working at Stanford University. 

After scouting locations from Oregon to New York, Lucia relocated her family to Wisconsin in 1999. At the time, the Hispanic population of Dane County was seeing triple-digit growth, with little to no infrastructure in place to provide culturally competent support.

She joined Centro Hispano as executive director. She also served as deputy director of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, administrator of the State of Wisconsin Equal Rights Division, and the first director of the City of Madison Department of Civil Rights. She marched at Madison’s Latino immigrant rallies and was featured in Somos Latinas: Voices of Wisconsin Latina Activists, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. From 2016 until her retirement, she was the vice president of equity, inclusion, and community engagement at Madison Area Technical College.

"I am Cuban,  and as much as I have tried to fight it for so many years, I am Cuban. It was amazing for me to realize that. I love this umbrella of Latinos, because then it allows me to connect with Latinos in this country, and be under this umbrella, and unite on so many different fronts," said Lucia.

Lucia gave voice to countless communities over the years. When asked what she'd learned throughout her career, she offered this life lesson.

"Find your own voice first. If you don't find your own voice, you're going to be in trouble."

Lucía is survived by Heidi Vargas, her wife of 35 years, and their two children, Carina Vargas-Nuñez, and Mateo Vargas-Nuñez.

This story first appeared in the fall/winter issue of Our Lives Magazine.