Her very first job was packing oranges and seasonal fruit, earning 4 cents per box. She walked one mile to and from work, and she held this job for eight years becoming the packing company's top producer. In pursuit of a better future for her family, she loaded all seven children into a 1959 Chevy with $50 in her pocket and headed for California in search of the American dream, palm trees and the end of the rainbow. She arrived in Fontana living with a sister, and got a job sewing men's pants in San Bernardino. She then took employment in a chicken factory packing chickens on a tray as it moved down the line to have plastic placed over them. She stayed employed there for five years earning $2.50 an hour by the time she left. In 1977 Grace joined the California Employment Training Act (CETA) Program, which was a turning point in her life.
Grace worked hard on her clerical skills and landed a job as a clerk in the City of Rialto City Clerks' office. This led to a promotion as Clerk in the Rialto Police Department, leading to another promotion to the City Treasurer's office, and in 1979 she became the Licensing Inspector for the City of Rialto. Grace held this position until 1991 when she left city government to enter into the realm of private enterprise.
At the age of 59, Grace Vargas' crowning professional achievement came after she ran for the Rialto City Council in 1998. She became the first Latina to be elected in the history of Rialto. In November 2000, Grace became the Mayor for the City of Rialto.
Hillel Cohn, Rabbi
Rabbi Hillel Cohn served as rabbi of Congregation Emanu El in San Bernardino from 1963 to 2001. He is now Rabbi Emeritus of the congregation. A native of Germany, he was brought to the United States as an infant by his parents who were refugees from Nazism. Rabbi Cohn grew up in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1959. His rabbinical training was received at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and Cincinnati where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1963 and received a Master of Arts degree. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Claremont School of Theology in 1984 specializing in ethics and communication. In 1988 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the Hebrew Union College.
In 1996 Rabbi Cohn was one of 5,000 Americans honored for being a Community Hero by carrying the Olympic Torch. In 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Our Lady of Guadalupe Award from the Diocese of San Bernardino, the highest award it confers upon non-Catholics. He recently received the "Man in the Spirit of Martin Luther King" Award from the African-American Churches of the Inland Empire and also received the Dale Evans-Roy Rogers Award for a Lifetime of Commitment to the Spirituality of Children from the Loma Linda University Medical Center. In 2001 he was the recipient of the Leaders of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award from the Business Press of the Inland Empire. In 2007 he was named a Community Honoree by the Western Inland Empire Coalition Against Hate for his work in fighting hate and building inclusion. In 2009 he received the George E. Brown, Jr. Peace Award from the Democratic Luncheon Club of San Bernardino. In 2009 he also received the Humanitarian Award from the Time for a Change Foundation. Rabbi Cohn is a life-member of the NAACP.
He has been active in many community organizations in the San Bernardino area. He now serves on the Institutional Review Board at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, and is a member of the Diocesan Health Care Committee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino. He was the founding chairperson of the City of San Bernardino Human Relations Commission and currently serves as a member of that commission. He produced and hosted “The Many Faces of San Bernardino: Dialogues on Diversity”, a regular half-hour program on KCSB (Channel 3). He was one of the founders of Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC).
Rabbi Cohn and his wife Rita live in San Bernardino. They have two children, Elana Cohn-Rozansky and Marc Cohn and four grandchildren, Jeremy and Adam Rozansky and Sarah and Leah Cohn.