Maria Texas

Mrs. Maria Eugenia “Jeannie” Lopez, 88, entered into God’s heavenly kingdom on July 4, 2017.

As written by Jeannie: “It was 1929 and the Depression was at its height; Laredo had little to offer in the way of jobs and my parents soon became aware of my pending arrival. They decided to move to Homestead, Pennsylvania where my dad joined his brothers working at Carnegie Illinois Steel Corporation. We lived in a neighborhood that catered to migrants from Czechoslovakia, Russia, Lithuania and other countries that I don't recall. They say that necessity is the mother of invention and I dare to add that it's also the mother of survival including the learning of a new language. Daddy, being from Laredo was bilingual and Mom, a talented seamstress hailing from Mexico, knew a smattering of English which she had acquired from her bilingual speaking customers. She made me speak Spanish at home always reminding me, "Que no se te olvide, tu eres Mexicana." She was very proud of being Mexican and instilled that pride in me. Sans a formal education, my mother was very smart and creative. Her "a mi se me hace" usually ended with "te dije."

I credit her and my dad for any good qualities I may have. Mother taught me to sing, to recite poetry and got me violin lessons. My first violin teacher was a gypsy! Can you believe it? He was amazing. When we had company, I always had to "perform." I'd either sing or recite a poem or play the violin. To this day I don't know what "stage fright" is. It was a happy time but we yearned, we thirsted for anything Mexican and although we eventually found a Mexican neighborhood and quickly made friends, there were no Mexican movies or Mexican restaurants. I'd scan the list of credits after any movies we saw hoping to see a Mexican name. But no, that never happened. Once in a great while I mean a great while, there was a beautiful Mexican comedienne, Lupe Velez who appeared in short movies. What a treat that was for us. I yearned to see a movie with Mexican actors but that never happened during this time of my life. This year, when Cuar6n, the Mexican director won Best Director for" Gravity in the Academy Awards, I cried I was so excited. I'm going to write him and thank him for making one of my dreams come true after umpteen years.

When we returned to Laredo in 1945 due to my dad's health, I was in culture shock! There were Mexicans working in banks! There were Mexican teachers and Mexican doctors, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in Heaven. I graduated from Martin High School in 1948, began working at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, married and was blessed with three incredible sons, Oscar, Guillermo and Carlos and later, two beautiful granddaughters, Lauren, Erinn and my darling daughter in law Elsa. I stayed here for 25 years. Taking night classes at LCC when it finally opened, I had no idea how I was going to finish my degree because LCC was, and continues to be a two year college. But often, we worry about things that, if we are patient, and have faith, seem to work out all by themselves. The year I finished my AA, Laredo State University fortuitously opened and my entire class was the first class to enter Laredo State University and I graduated cum laude with a teaching degree. I had earned the right to be called "Ma'am." The teaching students were a very close knit group and oh how we teased each other about how proud we were to now be "Ma’am’s" and "Sirs". Yessiree, God is good. I later went back and got a Bilingual Certificate, a GT Certificate and that all important Theatre Certificate.

As far back as I can remember, theatre has always been a part of my life. Even in high school at Martin I was involved in plays. Truthfully, my acting "career" began when I was a 6 year old in first grade at Third Avenue Elementary School in Homestead and was cast as the queen in Snow White. No, no it wasn't any talent that got me the part. It was my hair. My teacher thought the queen should have long, black hair and J was the only one in class with long, black hair. Remember the neighborhood I lived in? puros hueritos? Our neighbors were all fair skinned and light haired. Their children were in class with me. I was the only one with long black hair so I got the part, my first foray into the magical world of theatre. My connection with the Laredo Little Theatre is extensive and spans over 50 years. I've been in over 30 productions as an actor or director with LLT. About 25 years ago, we started doing children's plays during the summer and the idea was very successful and bas continued. Introducing children to theatre is one of the most gratifying experiences for both the director and the children. The director discovers new talent and what a "high" that is. The kids find out that learning can be fun. Most important of all, they find out that they are important, that if they miss saying their line (God forbid) the whole play stops. Knowing that one is good at something is life changing and that is worth all the time and effort involved.

Being in the classroom is no different. My goal in teaching has always been to highlight students' skills and talents. While at Martin High School, I was UIL Prose and Poetry Sponsor and participated in UIL competition events. During the years 1996 to 2002, I compiled, edited and produced" Mosaic" a compilation of student writings - short stories, poetry and art work. The kids were so impressed to see their work in a book. They were very proud of themselves as I was of them. During the Halloween season, I taught my students to write Mexican calaveras in English. These were also put into a booklet, aptly named "Calaveras". A segment about how I teach creative language was published in an English textbook by Glenco/McGraw Hill Publisher - 1999. In 2001, while at Martin High, I was named L.I.S.D. Teacher of the Year. On March 26, 2010, I was named Education Tiger Legend "Golden Mentor" Class of 1948. On May 22, 2002, I was selected as a Semi-Finalist during the preliminary judging of the 2002 HEB Excellence in Teaching Awards. This year I was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame of the Laredo Commission for Women. I also received a Heritage Award from the Webb County Heritage Foundation. And honor of honors I was named the Dama Award Recipient from Las Damas de la Cultura de Oro this year. How proud my mother would have been to see me receive this honor from an organization such as yours who works so hard at maintaining alive our ethnicity. .

From 2005 through 2010, while teaching at St. Augustine, I compiled, edited and produced seniors' Farewell Speeches which were a collection of seniors' farewell thoughts. While at St. Augustine, my theatre arts class performed "The Wall" in honor of Veterans' Day in 2008. In 2003 I received the Education Award for Outstanding Contribution to Our Youth given by Sames Motor. As part of the Chicano Writers Group my original musical "EI Mero, Mero" was one of three plays selected by Dr. Juan Maldonado, LCC President to be performed during the 2010 convocation on January 4,2010. This same play was one of two plays selected to be performed in San Antonio at the TACHE State Convention.

Furthermore, I continued to be active in the community and was a member of the Laredo Jr. College Symphony, Violinist with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tuesday Music & Literature Club, Genealogical Society, an Honorable Member of the Laredo Woman’s City Club as well as a member of the Blessed Sacrament Altar Society, her home parish that she truly loved and in which would never miss an event.”

In closing, “I would like the memory of me to be a happy one. I would like to leave an afterglow of smiles when day is done. I would like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways of happy times and bright sunny days. I would like the tears of those who grieve to dry before a sun of happy memories that I leave behind when day is done.”

In Lieu of flowers, a donation in her memory be made to: Laredo Little Theater, PO BOX 2266, Laredo, TX 78044-2266 or the Laredo Animal Protective Society (L.A.P.S.), 2500 Gonzalez, Laredo, TX 78040.

A special thank you to Dr. Gilberto Garza-Lozano and his wonderful staff, Dr. Benson Huang, Dr. Moshen Mahani and Dr. Manuel Jovel for caring for Jeannie during her medical illness in the most professional and loving manner.

Guests are invited to join the family in celebrating and commemorating her life on Sunday, July 9, 2017 at Joe Jackson North Funeral & Cremation Services, 1410 Jacaman Rd., from 4 to 9 in the evening.

You are invited to attend her funeral Mass on Monday, July 10, 2017 at 9 o’clock in the morning at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. The sacrifice of the Mass will be celebrated by Rev. Msgr. Stanley Sliwiak, PhD.

All are asked to meet at the church. Funeral services will conclude following the Mass in order to proceed with a cremation at a later date.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of the funeral service professionals at Joe Jackson North Funeral & Cremation Services, 1410 Jacaman Rd., Laredo, TX 78041, 956.722.8850