Nabora "Nora/Noby" Montoya Urias

Nabora Montoya Urias, 81, of Austin, Texas passed away on Monday, December 4, 2023. She was born on September 24, 1942 in Austin, Texas to Esberardo Montoya and Feliciana Hernandez Montoya. Nora grew up in Austin and was the fourth of nine children. She attended Austin High School but had to leave school in the tenth grade when her mother passed away giving birth to her last child. Nora become a mother to her siblings at an early age. Most of her friends called her Nora and her family called her Noby. Nora met her husband, Jay, of 60 years at Templo Bethel Church where her uncle, Rev. Pedro Montoya was the pastor.

Nora married Jay on April 17, 1960 and they started a family right away. Nora always told her kids she wanted them to have a chance to be the “baby” of the family, so she and Jay spaced out the births of their children so each one was at least 3 years old before the next one was born. Nora lost her second daughter, Angela, when she was 3 months old. This was a very hard time for her, and Jay and she never really spoke about it to us until we were all grown adults.

Even though Nora was never able to continue her education, she worked hard to provide for her family. Nora started a career as a health care worker and worked for many years for the state of Texas at the Austin State Hospital where she ultimately retired from due to health reasons. She always worked the early morning shift, and we can remember her or our dad driving down Mopac in the dark to get her to work. She loved her clients and used to share stories with us about them and made sure we were always respectful to people with special needs.

Nora learned how to drive after she got married and spent a lot of time driving her kids and sisters everywhere in her little white Corvair. Her kids spent a lot of time at La Loma with her father and sisters, Mary and Dahlia during the summers so she could work. Nora spent a lot of time at the baseball fields when her kids were young as her husband Jay coached several of his son’s, Ralph, little league baseball teams. She supported all her kid's extracurricular activities and she was so proud of all their accomplishments. Our mom was a sports enthusiast and loved watching University of Texas and Dallas Cowboy football games.

Nora loved her kids, grandkids, and great-grand kids more than life itself and we knew it. She helped her son Ralph raise his children Angela and James. She spent a lot of time driving her grandkids to school and different places they needed to be. Recently, her grandson James took her to see Josh Gates, the international adventurer, and she was hooked and watched his TV show all the time. She was also into horror movies and she and her sister Mary watched them all the time. The last movie she watched was the new Exorcist movie with her kids Gil and Terise and her sister Mary. She told all of us it wasn’t even scary.

Nora was very shy and was an introvert at heart. She was humble and very frugal so that she could give her kids and family everything she could. She lived by example and was kind to everyone she met.

Nora was preceded in death by her husband Jerry Urias, parents, Esberardo Montoya and Feliciana Hernandez Montoya, her daughter, Angela Rene Urias, and her siblings Lalo “Lalin” Montoya and Rosendo “Chendin” Montoya.

Nora is survived by her children: Debra “Debbie” Urias and Mac McCully of Austin, Ralph Urias of Austin, and Gilbert “Gil” and Terise Urias of Kyle; by her grandchildren: James Urias of Austin, and Angela Urias and Esteban Bilderback of Austin; by her great grandchildren Andrea Bilderback and Estrella Bilderback; and by her brothers Reynaldo “Nano” Montoya (Rosa), Ramiro Montoya, Felix Montoya (Vondell); sisters Gloria Astran (Paul), Mary Montoya, Dahlia Pena (Ricardo); and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends. And we cannot forget all the grand-dogs and cats she helped us raise over the years...some still with us and some we have since lost.

The family wishes to give many, many thanks and sincere gratitude to her sister Mary Montoya. Mary has spent the last several years living with and taking care of her and took care of her brother-in-law before he passed away. Mary spent every night with Noby while she was at the hospital to make sure her sister was not alone. Thanks to the nurses who took care of Nora during her stay at St. David’s Hospital. Our hearts were broken the morning our mother died and Chaplain Glenn C. Sampayan came to our mother’s side and conducted a wonderful little service that comforted and helped us with our grief. He shared a wonderful reading, sang a beautiful rendition of "When the Roll is Called up Yonder" and prayed over our mother to help her soul move on to the Lord. We cannot even begin to explain to Chaplain Glenn how much the kindness and support he gave to her children, sisters, and cousin helped our hearts and minds as we said goodbye to our mother, sister, and Aunt.

Funeral arrangements and burial will be held at the Cook Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home and Memorial Park (6300 West William Cannon Drive, Austin, Texas). The family will be receiving family and friends at the Visitation on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. The Funeral Service will be on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. with Pastor Felix Montoya officiating and the Gravesite Service will follow at 12:00 p.m.