Editing Cesar Chavez (section)

==Personal life==
{{Quote box
| quote = The union's survival, its very existence, sent out a signal to all Hispanics that we were fighting for our dignity. That we were challenging and overcoming injustice, that we were empowering the least educated among us, the poorest among us. The message was clear. If it could happen in the fields, it could happen anywhere: in the cities, in the courts, in the city councils, in the state legislatures. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but the coming of our union signalled the start of great changes among Hispanics that are now only beginning to be seen.
| source=— Cesar Chavez, 1984{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=2–3}}
| align = right
| width = 25em
}}

When Chavez returned home from his service in the military in 1948, he married his high school sweetheart, [[Helen Fabela Chávez|Helen Fabela]]. The couple moved to [[San Jose, California]].<ref name="The Story of Cesar Chavez"/> With his wife, he had eight children: Fernando (b.1949), Sylvia (b.1950), Linda (b.1951), Eloise (b.1952), Anna (b.1953), Paul (b.1957), Elizabeth (b.1958), and Anthony (b.1958).{{sfn|Bruns|2005|pp=13, 26}} Helen avoided the limelight, a trait which Chavez admired.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=146}} While he led the union, she focused on raising the children, cooking, and housekeeping.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=146–147}} During the latter part of the 1970s, his infidelity with a range of women became common knowledge among senior UFW figures, who kept this knowledge quiet so as not to damage his reputation as a devoted [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] family man.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=381}} After Helen read a love letter written to Chavez by another woman, she temporarily left La Paz and lived with one of her daughters in Delano.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=375, 380}} Chavez's children resented the union and displayed little interest in it,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=293}} although most ended up working for it.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=440}} Of these children, Chavez's eldest son, Fernando, was the only one to graduate college;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=440}} Chavez's relationship with Fernando was strained, as he was frustrated with what he saw as his son's interest in becoming middle-class.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=192}}

Chavez expressed traditional views on gender roles and was little influenced by the [[second wave feminism]] that was contemporary with his activism.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=146}} In his movement, men took almost all the senior roles, with women largely being confined to background roles as secretaries, nurses, or in child-care; the main exception was Huerta.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=146}} Chavez had a close working relationship with Huerta. They became mutually dependent, and although she did not hesitate to raise complaints with him, she also usually deferred to him.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=92}} During their working relationship, they often argued,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=257}} something which intensified in the latter part of the 1970s.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=358}} Huerta stated that she was Chavez's "whipping girl" when he was under pressure.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=409}} He never had close friendships outside of his family, believing that friendships distracted from his political activism.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=180}}

Physically, Chavez was short,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=39}} and had jet black hair.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=355|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2p=13}} He was quiet,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=91}} and Bruns described him as being "outwardly shy and unimposing".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=13}} Like many farm laborers, he experienced severe back pain throughout his life.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|pp=13, 92}} He could be self-conscious about his lack of formal education and was uncomfortable interacting with affluent people.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=91}} When speaking with reporters, he sometimes mythologized his own life story.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=130–131}}
Chavez was not a great orator; according to Pawel, "his power lay not in words, but in actions".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=2}} She noted that he was "not an articulate speaker",{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=39}} and similarly, Bruns observed that he "had no special talent as a public speaker".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=x}} He was soft-spoken,{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=26|2a1=Ospino|2y=2013|2p=413}} and according to Pawel had an "informal, conversational style",{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=48}} and was "good at reading people".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=39}} He was unwilling to delegate or trust others.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=283}} He preferred to tackle every task personally.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=278}} He was also capable of responding quickly and decisively to events.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=301}}

[[File:Cesar chavez visita a colegio cesar chavez.jpg|thumb|left|Chavez visiting [[Colegio Cesar Chavez]]]]

Bruns described Chavez as combining a "remarkable tenacity with a sense of serenity".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=66}} A tireless worker, he was known for often working 18 hours a day;{{sfn|Street|1996|p=363}} he used to start his working day at 3.30am and would often continue working until 10pm.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=278}} He stated that "I just sleep and eat and work. I do nothing else."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=341}} Pawel stated that as a leader, Chavez was both "charming, attentive, and humble" as well as being "single-minded, demanding, and ruthless".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=143–144}} When he wanted to criticize one of his volunteers or staff members he usually did so in private but on occasion could berate them in a public confrontation.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=93}}
He described his own life's work as a crusade against injustice,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=2}} and displayed a commitment to self-sacrifice.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=50}} Pawel thought that "Chavez thrived on the power to help people and the way that made him feel".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=39}} Ross, who was a friend and colleague of Chavez's for many years, noted that "He would do in thirty minutes what it would take me or somebody else thirty days".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=136}} Pawel noted that Chavez was "openly ruthless" in his "drive to be the one and only farm labor leader".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=247}} He was stubborn and would rarely back down once he had taken a stance.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=256}} He would not accept criticism of himself, but would deflect it.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=252}}

Chavez was a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] whose faith strongly influenced both his social activism and his personal outlook.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=3|2a1=Wells|2y=2009|2p=14}} He rarely missed [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] and liked to open all of his meetings with either a Mass or a prayer.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=95|2a1=Ospino|2y=2013|2p=408}} Privately, he also liked to [[Christian meditation|meditate]].{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=95}} In 1970, he became a [[vegetarianism|vegetarian]],{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=204}} stating that "I wouldn't eat my dog, you know. Cows and dogs are about the same."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=295}} As part of this diet he also shunned most dairy products except [[cottage cheese]].{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=295}} He credited this diet with easing his chronic back pain.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=295}} He also avoided eating processed foods.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=295}} Among his favorite foods were traditional Mexican and Chinese cuisines.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=57}}

Chavez had a love of the music of [[Duke Ellington]] and [[big band]] music;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=20}} he enjoyed dancing.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=94}} He was also an amateur photographer,{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=94}} and a keen gardener, making his own compost and growing vegetables.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=147}} For much of his adult life he kept [[German shepherd]] dogs for personal protection;{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=173}} two of those he kept at La Paz were named Boycott and Huelga.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=94|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=365}} Chavez preserved many of his notes, letters, the minutes of meetings, as well as tape recordings of many interviewers, and at the encouragement of [[Philip P. Mason]] donated these to the [[Walter P. Reuther Library]], where they are kept.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=189}} He disliked telephone conversations, suspecting that his phone line was bugged.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=191}} He tended to see problems faced by his movement not as evidence of innocent mistakes but as deliberate sabotage.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=339}}

Chavez was self-educated, with Pawel noting that he was "disinclined to analyze information".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=329}} Once Chavez accepted an idea, he could dedicate himself to it wholeheartedly.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=329}}