Placida Barrera

PLACIDA PENA BARRERA

July 13, 1926 - August 27, 2016

Our queen, our angel on earth, the wind beneath our wings, our matriarch, Placida Pena Barrera, passed away, her way, at her home at the age of 90 on Saturday, August 27, 2016, just 75 days after her dearly departed husband, Raymundo, led the way.

Left to cherish her memory are her loving sister, Guadalupe Pena Trevino; her six children, Nora M. (Jim) Keithley, Raymundo (Marla) Barrera Jr., Cynthia Y. (John) Witt, Sandra Y. (Tim) Goodrum, Carlos H. (Irma "Dee Dee") Barrera, and Judith M. (Joe ) Barrientos; 20 grandchildren and their spouses; 29 great grandchildren, with another on the way. She is also survived by parents of some of her grandchildren, Dora Vela, Luis Guerra, and Felipe Rodman.

Placida was preceded in death by her husband, Raymundo M. Barrera; her mother, Josefa Ramirez Pena; her father, Reynaldo Pena; and her brother, Amando Pena.

Placida was born in Jim Hogg County on "El Colorado" ranch in Guerra, Texas. She was a country girl. Her family home had no running water, so she carried buckets of water from "La presa" to their house. Her family had no car. The first time young Placida rode in a car, her mother was scared for her life even though the car traveled only 20 miles per hour. You can only imagine what her mother feared when, in 1957, Placida traveled across the Pacific Ocean to Japan with four young children on a military ship for 19 days, or worse, when Placida returned from Japan to the States with six children on airplane flights that totaled 36 hours.

Placida and Raymundo celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary on June 4th of this year. During their 66 years together, they enjoyed diverse cultures and friendships with people from around the world, some of whom they remained in contact with the rest of their lives. Their first home together was on Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Cleveland, Ohio. Placida blossomed as a nurse's assistant at a local hospital. She often spoke of the training she received from very kind doctors and nurses. The healthcare experience she learned there benefited her later as she mothered her own six children and even later as she cared for her ailing husband. In fact, until her dying days, she was able to tell us and her caretakers how to care for her. She was so bright!

Ray and Placida's second home was on Griffiss AFB in Rome, New York. From there they moved to Presque Isle AFB, Maine where Nora was born. Next they moved to Fort Ethan Allen in Burlington, Vermont where Ray Jr. was born. While Raymundo served in the Korean War, Placida gave birth to Cynthia in Mission, Texas where she lived with Raymundo's mother, Maria Martinez. Upon his return from Korea, Raymundo and Placida moved to McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas where Sandra was born and from there to Tachikawa AFB, Tokyo, Japan where Carlos and Judith were born.

In 1959, they were stationed at Laredo AFB, Texas. Because no one wanted to rent a house to a family with 6 children, Ray and Placida purchased their first and only family home together. This would be the house they would retire to later, the house where they saw their children mature and spread their wings, the same house they aged in, and the very house from which they departed this worldbut not without intermission

In 1963, Placida joined her husband in Camp Walker, Taegu, South Korea, traveling across the Pacific Ocean again, but alone this time with six children from ages 4 to 12 plus lots of luggage. After less than a year, they were transferred to Yokota Air Force Base in Tokyo, Japan. The Barrera family lived off base in a Japanese neighborhood before moving to Johnson Family Housing Area. They stayed in Japan for almost four years before moving stateside to Forbes AFB in Topeka, Kansas. After a year there, the Barreras returned to their house in Laredo, Texas.

As an intelligent and strong-willed child, Placida knew the importance of a good education. She left her home in the country and lived with relatives to attend secondary school. She went to junior high in Mission, Texas where, unbeknownst to her at the time, she met her future husband. Then she went to Rio Grande High School and graduated in 1945.

Placida was the first generation college educated member of her family. Learning the ropes as she worked as a financial aide officer at Laredo Junior College, she decided to enroll in classes. After she persevered in her classes at LJC, she went on to graduate from Laredo State University at the age of 52 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. She began her professional teaching career at Roma ISD. She taught for several years with United ISD until she retired from teaching at the age of 75.

At Clark Middle School she sponsored a club called "Young Astronauts". She thoroughly enjoyed taking her students to NASA and Astro World and participating with her students in the annual George Washington parade on a float that Raymundo made to resemble a spaceship. Placida idolized Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space in 1983. She was devastated when the spaceship Challenger carrying Teacher-in-Space, Krista McAuliffe, exploded and fell to earth in 1986.

Placida donated generously to many charities, and she was a member of many organizations. She was a devout Catholic and a parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Laredo. She was a girl scout leader in the Far East Girl Scout Council in Tokyo, Japan. She was an alumnus of TAMIU in Laredo and of TWU in Denton. She was a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary. She was also a member of TSTA/NEA and the Webb County Unit of Texas Retired Teachers. Attending political pachangas was one of her favorite pastimes.

Home is where the heart is, and the heart of Placida's home was her kitchen. You couldn't enter her house without being invited to eat in her aromatic kitchen where she always seemed to have something simmering. Hungry or not, she saw to it that you left a little heavier than when you arrived. Even from her bed in the hospital, she continued to offer visitors meals from her kitchen. Hearing the pots and pans clanging in her kitchen early in the morning was music to anyone's ears.

Placida was a woman of many talents. She could prepare a cabrito from field to feast. She could sew fabric into flowery dresses, and would dress, not one but two, huge guajalotes for our Thanksgiving dinners. She rolled the best yeast bread, flour tortillas, and tamales, and with those same hands she soothed her children's congested chests and stuffy noses with Vick's Vapor Rub.

Placida was an inspiration to all her grandchildren. Her granddaughters and her great granddaughters, in particular, look to her as a pillar of strength that they aspire to be. Her strength, warmth, and love will be dearly missed, but her spirit will live forever in the lives that she touched.

As for her children, she treated each of us in a very special way, we each called her "my mom". We will each miss "my mom" beyond measure in our own special way.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 04, 2016 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapel, 1410 Jacaman Rd. A Rosary will be recited at 5:30 p.m.

Funeral procession will depart on Monday, September 05, 2016 from the funeral home at 8:30 a.m. to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church for a Mass of Christian Burial at 9 a.m.

Rite of Committal and Interment will be conducted on Tuesday morning, September 06, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

More information on the life of Placida can be read on "The University Of Texas at Austin Oral History Project - Voces - Giving a Voice to the American Latino Experience" at the following link: www.lib.utexas.edu/voces/template-stories-indiv.html?work_urn=urn%3Autlol%3Awwlatin.236&work_title=Barrera%2C+Placida+Pena

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

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care and direction of the funeral service professionals at Joe Jackson North Funeral Chapels, 1410 Jacaman Rd., Laredo, Texas 78041; (956)722-8850.