Gloria Medora de la Rosa Garza, faithful daughter of God, entered into eternal rest on October 28, 2026 at the age of 90 years. Medora and her late husband, Reynaldo Garza, moved to Pleasanton, Texas in 2016 after raising their family in Brownsville, Texas and immediately became members of the Pleasanton community.

Medora was born in Sebastian, Texas on February 22, 1936 to Manuel C. and Margarita H. de la Rosa as the seventh of eight children. Soon after, the de la Rosa family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where she attended Catholic school at the historic Incarnate Word Academy until a handsome young man from the Rio Grande Valley swept her off her feet. Reynaldo “Nano” Garza charmed the young lady immediately and they were married in 1953 in Corpus Christi. The two soon began their family and welcomed six children, Dr. Reynaldo Esteban Garza (Mary Ester), Norman Roy Garza (Tina), Patricia G. Betz, Marietta G. Bates (Lee), Dr. Virginia G. Miller (Mark), and Rebecca G. Anzaldua (David).

As the matriarch of her family, Medora made the Garza household a home for her children and countless others who share lifelong memories of Rentfro Blvd in Brownsville. She kept them all on the straight and narrow with her love and firm expectations of respect and responsibilities, earning their love that continues to this day.

After raising her children and watching the last one begin school, Medora entered the workforce as a paraprofessional in the local school district. The years found her serving at many different campuses as a bilingual teaching assistant, home visitor, and the role that she came to love and be best remembered, school librarian. Known as “Ms. Library” to many generations of children in Brownsville, she ran the school library like her home: neat, orderly and filled with children’s laughter with an appreciation and love for reading. One of her proudest bragging points was in recognizing the higher educational degrees and accomplishments earned by her children and grandchildren over the years. She recognized the importance of a good education and the opportunities a degree could bring to each of her loved ones.

As a lifelong devoted Catholic, Medora and her family were parishioners at the historic Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and then founding members of St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Brownsville before relocating and finding a new Catholic Community at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Pleasanton. She served her Lord as a faithful Member of the Altar Society, Eucharistic Minister, Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and through her devoted presence at Holy Hour, First Friday Mass, as well as a daily mass. The Catholic Community was always a second home to her. At any hour of the day, prayers were part of her daily ritual at home or in a Church pew.

In 2019, after 66 years of marriage, Medora was dealt a great loss in the death of her husband, Reynaldo, after the previous loss in 2018 of her daughter-in-law, Dr. Rosemarie Garza. She would survive them, her parents, and her seven siblings—Robertito, Rudolfo, Ruben, Raul, Robert, and Roy de la Rosa, as well as her beloved sister Margaret Alvarez—yet Medora remained faithful to the promise of eternal life.

Medora’s beauty enamored everyone who met her, and this beauty was both internal and external. Her fair skin, hazel eyes, and white hair were qualities that captured the eye of so many. However, it was her spiritual beauty that kept her in God’s grace for 90 years and kept her healthy and strong, which allowed her to live independently and in all her faculties until her last day. She was an avid board game competitor and used her smart and strategic mind over Bunco, Scrabble, Mexican Train, or Rummikub. She loved playing with her family members and these games introduced her to so many new friends in Pleasanton that brought her hours of laughter and smiles. The Garza Family extends their appreciation to all who sat at a table with her over one of these board games.

Medora is survived by her children and 13 grandchildren, Nicole B. Kelly, Norman Roy Garza Jr., Dr. Kimberly Garza, Robert Ray Garza, Kevin Betz (Sabrina), Natalie G. Tyler (Zachary), Lindsay G. Klein (Kyle), Samantha Richardson, Brian Dean Richardson (Emily), LCMR Charles Miller (Laura), Kenneth Ray Miller (Regan), Troy Betz, and Amy Anzaldua. She is also survived by two great-grandchildren, Addison Rose Kelly and John Easton Betz. She was excitedly awaiting the birth of two additional great-grandchildren in the spring of 2027. Serving as pallbearers are her grandsons and honorary pallbearers are her granddaughters.

Funeral services will be handled by Hurley Funeral Home in Pleasanton. Viewing scheduled for November 6th at 3:00pm and a rosary at 7:00 p.m. A funeral Mass to be held at St. Andrew Catholic Church on November 7th at 11:00 a.m. At a later date, burial will be at the Coastal Bend Veterans Cemetery in Corpus Christi, where she will be laid to rest next to her late husband, Reynaldo. There, the two of them will continue their eternal lives together. 

The Garza Family extends personal gratitude and appreciation to the wonderful staff at Argent Court Assisted Living, Medora’s loving neighbors and many senior gaming friends, as well as the parishioners of St. Andrew Catholic Church who welcomed and cherished her as an extension of God’s love on earth.