Maria D. Huerta Garcia's Obituary
Maria Huerta Garcia, 86, was received into the hands of God, Sunday, November 15, 2015 while in her Arlington home.
Memorial Mass will be held at 3:00PM on Friday, November 20, 2015 at St. Jude Catholic Church; 500 East Dallas Street: Mansfield.
Maria Dolores Huerta Garcia was born in Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Zacatecas and her early childhood was spent in Rincón de Romos, Aguascalientes. She would later move with her family to Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua as her father’s work in the railroad took him north. Maria was the rock of her family providing for her mother and siblings from an early age as her father left them to travel to the US in the Bracero program.
Maria and her family would later move to Cd. Juarez for work in the border city. She and her siblings crossed the border daily to work returning home daily to care for their mother. Maria was a leader in her family. She was first to establish legal residency and work in the El Paso Country Club area. There she made friends that would invite her to join them pursuing better employment in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, she quickly found work and took residence in Fremont Place in Hancock Park where she would raise her only daughter Dora Tovar. In Los Angeles, she touched the lives of many and established long term friendships with those that she worked alongside and for in the exclusive Hollywood neighborhood and entertainment industry.
Approaching retirement, Maria chose to move to Austin, Texas to help raise her first grandchild Oscar Luis in 1993 and her second, Mayan Maria in 1996. Nothing gave her more joy than raising her grandchildren. She moved with the family to Washington, D.C., Redondo Beach, CA, El Paso, TX, New York City and her final home in Arlington. She took great joy in supporting her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.
As her granddaughter Mayan began playing softball in Mansfield at age 6, she didn’t miss a game. She loved to suit-up in her game shirt, pack the snacks and settled in for many years of supporting Mayan’s playing time. The same was true for her grandson Oscar Luis. She was vigilant in supporting him at school events and at his games when he played baseball. She became everyone’s Grandma. She was loved by many of her grandchildren’s friends and their families; and took great joy in cooking for them daily as they spent time at her home.
Even as the Alzheimer’s began to set-in and it hampered her ability to move she loved to attend Mayan’s games and cheer. She insisted on taking the weekly five-hour drive to northern Oklahoma to watch Mayan play college softball. In spring, she didn’t miss a game and was always ready to extend the trip to Arkansas numerous times for softball tournaments held there.
Maria was a fighter and a rock; she never faltered and never sat out because of her illness. In August, she went to move her granddaughter in at her new college in Temple and braved the three flights of stairs with patience and conviction every trip. She loved her life with her family and stayed fiercely committed to be present at all important family events.
In October, she was excited to support her daughter’s bid for public office as a Trustee for the Mansfield ISD. Her daughter had been involved in numerous campaigns but this was different. She enjoyed getting reports on the progression of the campaign and took great interest in sharing in the details. In hospice, she and the visiting chaplain talked for hours about her life struggles and the importance of seeing her daughter through this important life event.
Her last days were spent surrounded by her daughter and grandson receiving daily care and affection from them at home before being called by the Lord to his Kingdom for eternal rest.
Survivors: daughter, Dora Tovar of Arlington; grandson, Oscar L. Meza Tovar III of Arlington; granddaughter, Mayan M. Meza Tovar of Arlington; sisters, Manuela Huerta Garcia and Emilia Huerta Garcia of El Paso; brother, Carlos Huerta Garcia of Aguascalientes, MEX, and sister, Hermelinda Huerta Flores of Ciudad Juarez, MEX; numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives.
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