Imelda Gonzalez

IMELDA GONZALEZ

NOVEMBER 18, 1927 – AUGUST 18, 2020

Imelda M. (Mela) Gonzalez, 92, entered into eternal rest and peace on August 18, 2020 following the effects of cardiac complications and Alzheimers.  She will be remembered as a proud mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, a loyal friend, and a person who was curious about everything, never complained, and never turned down an invitation.

She was lovingly known as one of “Las Hermanas Lelas,” a nod to her dear sisters, Delia M. Leal and Alicia M. Martinez.  They were inseparable. They also had a brother, Ciro, who has passed, as well as her parents, Ciro and Juanita Martinez, who owned Heights Nursery on Guadalupe St. for many years.

As the matriarch of the Gonzalez Family, she instilled in all her children and grandchildren the value of education and hard work that have made them successful in their own careers in education administration, government service, technology, entrepreneurship, international business, and medical fields.

Imelda is preceded in death by her husband of 36 years, Pascual Gonzalez, Jr., the former Laredo superintendent of Greyhound Bus Lines.  Together they had six children:  Pascual III, Diana Imelda, Ricardo (Janie), Federico Luis, Ciro Rene (Marie), and Francisco Xavier.  Imelda has nine grandkids and eight great-grandkids.

Following graduation from Ursuline Academy, Imelda entered Federal service and retired in 1988 after a stellar 35-year career from the U.S. Customs Service. She also worked for the U.S. Border Patrol. She gave unselfishly to her community as a 33-year veteran volunteer at the Laredo Medical Center, and Mercy Hospital where she amassed over 35,000 hours of volunteer service.  She served as president of the auxiliary volunteers five times.  In 2010, she was inducted into the Laredo Women’s Hall of Fame recognizing her volunteer spirit.

She is an Honorary Member of the Laredo Tuesday Music & Literature Club where she also served as an officer.  She was a member of the Court Isabella 683 C.D.A. Catholic Daughters.  Imelda especially enjoyed her Wednesdays with her poker lady friends.  Her friends describe her as one the classiest women they knew and a role model for all women who knew her.

Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday morning, August 26, 2020 at Christ the King Catholic Church for a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. Everyone wishing to attend is asked to please meet at church.

A private Rite of Committal and Interment will follow at the family plot of the Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Ricardo A., Nicholas M., Erick A., Jorge A., Javier L., Michael A., Ciro R. II, and Melissa F.  Honorary Pallbearer will be Eric Austin Lopez Gonzalez.

Recognizing her multiple decades of community service, the Laredo Medical Center is creating the Imelda M. Gonzalez College Scholarship Fund to be awarded to high school graduates interested in a medical profession.   In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in her honor to the Laredo Medical Center Auxiliary, 1700 E. Saunders St., Laredo, TX, 78041.

The Gonzalez Family would like to thank her home Hospice and care providers, Esther, Rosie and Cynthia, for their loving care of Imelda.  May she rest in peace.

You may express your condolences, share your favorite memories, and sign the guestbook online at: www.joejacksonfuneralchapels.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care and direction of the funeral service professionals at Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services, 1410 Jacaman Road, Laredo, Texas 78041; (956)722-8850.