10/13/2026
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month/Latinx Heritage Month, we share the story of Rockford’s first Hispanic public school teacher.
Raquel (Munoz) Zickert was born on Aug. 22, 1931, in Beloit, Wisconsin, to Mexican parents. Her father worked for the Milwaukee Road railroad, and for the first five years of her life, Raquel and her family lived in two boxcars joined together on the railroad tracks where her father worked.
When Raquel began school, she struggled because she did not yet speak English well and failed kindergarten. Her mother wanted her children to be “All-American” and encouraged them to speak English.
Raquel went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and a master’s degree from National Louis University. She became the first Hispanic teacher in Rockford School District #205, where she spent 31 years teaching before retiring in 1995.
In June 1957, Raquel married Paul E. Zickert, who worked for many years as a principal in District #205. Together, they had four children. Raquel Zickert died on March 16, 2025, at the age of 93.
To learn more about influential and groundbreaking Rockfordians, visit our digital collection at midwayvillage.com/digital-collections.html.
(Photo provided by Zickert family, courtesy of Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory.)
RPS 205 Rockford Education Association
