Editing Cesar Chavez (section)

===Final years: 1990–1993===
[[File:2013-0211-CaesarChavezGravesite.jpg|thumb|right|The grave of César Chávez is located in the garden of the [[Cesar E. Chavez National Monument]] in Keene, California.]]

In the early 1990s, the UFW continued to market Chavez as a heroic figure, especially on university and college campuses.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=451}} In 1990, he appeared at 64 events, earning an average of $3,800 for each appearance.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=451}} In 1991, he launched a "Public Action Speaking Tour" of U.S. colleges and universities.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=451–452}} His standard speech at these events covered the problems facing farmworkers, the dangers of pesticides, the alliance of agribusiness and the Republican Party, and his view that boycotts and marches were a better means of achieving change than electoral politics.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=452}}

Chavez's mother died in December 1991, aged 99.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1pp=125–126|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=465}} The following year, in September 1992, Chavez's mentor Ross died. Chavez gave the eulogy at his funeral.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=466–468}} Chavez's final years saw the UFW's involvement in a legal battle with Bruce Church. The company had sued the union, claiming it libeled them and had illegally threatened supermarkets to stop them selling Red Coach lettuce.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=468}} In 1988, a jury returned a $5.4 million verdict against the UFW, but this verdict was thrown out in the appeals court.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=469}} The case was then remanded for trial on narrower grounds.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=469}} Chavez was called to testify in front of a Yuma court in 1993.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=126|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=469}} The stakes were high; a verdict against the UFW would have been financially devastating.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=126}}

During the case, Chavez stayed at the home of a San Luis supporter. It was there that he died in bed on April 23.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=126|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=470}} He was aged 66.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=470}} Chavez's body was flown to Bakersfield aboard a chartered plane.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=470}} The autopsy proved inconclusive, with the family stating that he had died of natural causes.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=471}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Chavez died of natural causes |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/04/27/Chavez-died-of-natural-causes/1591735883200/ |access-date=September 29, 2023 |work=[[UPI]] |date=April 27, 1993}}</ref> Chavez had already stipulated that he wanted his brother Richard to build his coffin,{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=126|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=471}} and that his funeral should take place at Forty Acres.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=471}} There, his body lay in state, where tens of thousands of people visited it.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=126|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=471}} A funeral procession took place in Delano, with 120 pallbearers taking turns to carry the coffin.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=127|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=471}} Chavez was then buried in a private ceremony at La Paz.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=127|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=472}}