California Secretary of State Alex Padilla called Tuesday for the renaming of the Secretary of State building complex in Sacramento in honor of his predecessor March Fong Eu, the first woman to serve in the post, who died Dec. 21 in Irvine at age 95 due to complications from a fall and subsequent surgery.
Eu was also the first Chinese-American elected to statewide office. She was elected secretary of state five times, holding the office from Jan. 6, 1975, to Feb. 17, 1994, when she was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia by President Bill Clinton. Before becoming secretary of state, she served in the state Assembly from 1966 through 1974.
Eu also gained national notoriety for her successful campaign in the 1970s to ban pay toilets from public buildings, which she said symbolized the second-class treatment of women who would be left fumbling for pocket change in their purses just to use a bathroom while there was no such requirement for men’s facilities.
Padilla said “Eu’s decades of public service reflects the office of the Secretary of State at its best — a commitment to transparency, access, inclusion, respect for history and progress.”
“In recognition of Secretary Eu’s service and in honor of her legacy, I believe it would be fitting to name the Secretary of State building complex in her honor,” he said. “I have instructed my staff to initiate the process to change the name of our complex.”
A graduate of UC Berkeley who grew up while living with her family in the back of a Chinese laundry in San Francisco, Eu earned a master’s degree from Mills College and a doctorate in education from Stanford University. She worked as a dental hygienist and served as president of the American Dental Hygienists Association. She was also a teacher in Oakland public schools.
Her son Matthew Fong, who died of cancer in 2011, served as state treasurer from 1994 to 1998.
–City News Service