Dora C. González

February 7, 1940 – July 26, 2025

Surrounded by her loving family at home in Austin, Dora Blanca Champion de González passed away peacefully on July 26, 2025, at the age of 85, after a courageous battle with stage four cancer.

Dora was born on February 7, 1940, in Progreso Lakes, Texas, to Roberto C. Champion and Santitos B. Champion. She attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Weslaco, Texas, and is a 1959 graduate of Weslaco High School and then attended Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, Texas. A devout Catholic throughout her life, she was a faithful and active member of St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church, where she attended Mass regularly and served for many years as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, taking holy communion to hospital patients on Sundays after Mass. Her deep faith sustained her, and in her final days, she was especially devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Dora will be remembered for her gentle spirit, unwavering faith, and boundless love for her family and friends. She dedicated her life to raising four children, serving her parish community, and living out her beliefs with grace and joy.

Together with her beloved husband of 61 years, Justice Raul A. González (Texas Supreme Court, Retired), Dora was a passionate advocate for the vocation of marriage. After attending a Worldwide Marriage Encounter (www.wwme.org) weekend in July 1973, Dora and Raul became a presenting team and were instrumental in expanding the program into Spanish across the United States and Latin America. Their ministry included helping to found the Marriage Encounter movement in Bolivia and Brazil, and they presented weekends in both English and Spanish throughout the U.S.

Dora and Raul practiced what they preached. In the year 2000, they began numbering their daily “10 & 10” love letters—a Marriage Encounter communication practice of ten minutes of writing and ten minutes of sharing. Dora’s final love letter to Raul, written on July 21, 2025 (just four days before she died), was #9,004!

Dora had a deep love of travel and was blessed to visit all 50 states and many countries around the world. Her journeys took her across Europe, where she visited England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, and Croatia. In the Middle East and Africa, she traveled to the Holy Land, Egypt, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, where she marveled at the grandeur of Victoria Falls. Her travels in Asia included China and Tibet, and in the Americas, she visited Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the Panama Canal, and various islands in the Caribbean.

One of the greatest blessings of her life was the unexpected gift of attending a private Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in his chapel, with a small group of just twenty others.

In addition to her husband, Raul, Dora is survived by her four children: Celeste Marie González of San Antonio, TX; Rev. Dom Ignacio González, OSB of Washington, DC; Marco Antonio González and his wife Deborah of Castroville, TX; and Sonia González Ramón and her husband Johnny of Austin, TX.

Dora was a devoted grandmother to eight grandchildren: Elizabeth González Schmidt and her husband Michael; Mia Alejandra González; Sofia Elena González; Isabella Ramón Vitale and her husband Christopher; Amelia Dora Ramón; Stella Karina Ramón; †Antonio Raúl Ramón; and Camilla Faith Ramón. She was also a loving great-grandmother to four great-grandchildren: Emmett Michael Schmidt; Madeline Elizabeth Schmidt; †August Vitale; and Rosemary Magdalene Vitale.

Dora is also survived by her siblings: Robert G. Champion (†Marielena); Gloria Champion Garcia and her husband Homero; and Ernesto R. Champion and his wife Elba. She is lovingly remembered by her brothers-in-law: René González and his wife Anne, and Hernán González and his wife Mary; her sister-in-law, Magdalena González; and by many nieces and nephews who loved her dearly.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, with the Rosary recited at 7:00 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, August 1, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church, 126 Oltorf Street, Austin, TX 78704, with Fr. Ignacio González, OSB, presiding and Fr. John Dougherty, CSC, concelebrating.

Interment will be at 2:00 p.m. at The Texas State Cemetery, 909 Navasota Street, Austin, TX 78702.

The family thanks God for the gift of Dora’s life—so richly lived in faith, love, laughter, and service—and invites your prayers for the repose of her soul and for the comfort of all who mourn her passing.