The granddaughter of César Chávez remembers watching her older sister beg their Tata to take a sip of water.

The legendary activist had begun his last hunger strike to gain attention for the civil rights of migrant workers. Julie Chávez Rodriguez was only 10, and her sister 13, when they stayed with him during this precarious time.

Tata refused food and wanted to follow a strict fast, but if he didn't drink water, both girls knew his days would be numbered. They watched the man who not only led a movement but would scat to his grandchildren in silly jazz licks as he "inched toward his deathbed," Rodriguez recalled.

Talking about it decades later, she grew momentarily quiet.

"Imagine those dynamics," said Rodriguez, wryly.

Then she went on, in a matter-of-fact manner: "I don't even know if there were moments of anxiety, or not knowing if this is appropriate generational roles. We just kind of did what needed to get done."

Rodriguez learned from her grandfather's example, and she went on to follow Chávez's lead, turning the concept of giving to others — even at great lengths — into a modern-day message for young and old alike.

Now head of the César E. Chávez Foundation, she is in Honolulu this week to discuss the ideas of community giving and leadership in talks with Punahou students, parents and teachers.

Rodriguez grew up understanding the importance of consistent hard work and sacrifice, though it took longer for her to understand the magnitude of what her grandfather had begun.

"He was my grandfather," she said simply. "To have someone so close to you, and because we had such a personal relationship with him, it was hard to see him the way other people regarded him."

He died when she was a freshman in high school.

Rodriguez doesn't remember much about the funeral, though she marvels that 40,000-plus people came together to mourn the man who worked alongside migrants in the fields and worked passionately for their civil rights. But the signs were clear.

The pope sent condolences. Chávez was hailed as "one of the great heroes of our time" by Robert F. Kennedy.

Only in retrospect does she realize how much Chávez shaped not just the world, but her — the little one he called "Juju." Partly, she says, that's because Chávez was humble to a fault.

"He was a remarkable individual," Rodriguez said. "What had the most profound impact? It was that leadership could only come through example, whether in his personal or professional life. No matter what he expected of others, he role-modeled."

He was also a workhorse who put in 16 hours a day: "When I think about determination, he was the epitome of that."

Not that it was easy, being one of the next generation of the controversial Chávez family. Arrested while leafletting several times before she even hit her teens, she coped with the fact that her father — who also worked for the United Farm Workers union — was often away, helping others. Strong male role models were abundant, but her mother, Linda, also taught her to stand up to racism.

Rodriguez tells the story of a second-grade teacher who put all the Latino kids in the low reading group. When little Julie came home with the news, her mother trotted her back to school and demanded that Julie be given an assessment. After testing, she was returned to the higher reading level.

"I learned that questioning authority wasn't a bad thing," Rodriguez said.

Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com.