Yolanda Amaya Garcia

Our beloved mother, Yolanda Amaya Garcia, was born February 12, 1937 in Robstown, Texas and was called by the Angels on April 6, 2026. She is preceded in Heaven by her father, Arnulfo Amaya and mother Evangelina Amaya, her son Carlos Garcia and her sisters Lou Giralamo, Esther Amaya and Mary Flores.

She is survived by her children Marie Elizabeth Many of Georgetown TX, Jose G. Garcia, Jr. and spouse Ann Hayes-Garcia of Tacoma WA, Vanessa Garcia of San Antonio TX, and Margo Garcia of Georgetown TX. She has eight grandchildren, Joseph Garcia, Carlos Garcia, Ashley Garcia-Bodifer, Thomas, Stephen and Eliah Garcia, Gabrielle E. Garcia, Olivia Yolanda Garcia, and four great grandchildren.

She attended Robstown high school until 1956 with hopes and dreams of going to nursing school, becoming a semi-professional golfer and traveling to Chicago and New York with her close friends.

She married in 1957 and had five children with our belated father, Ret. MSGT Jose G. Garcia who passed in October 2025. As a military wife, she was a full time stay-at-home mother keeping us grounded in family and faith. Mom also played golf with the wives club at Fort Ritchie AFB, MD, lived in Alaska and Washington.

As a single mother in 1974, she worked several jobs to meet family needs while continuing her education at a local community college, vocational school and USAF training programs earning her GED and certifications in general office, accounting, shorthand and management. She earned promotional roles from clerk to secretary, and from technical trainer to manager at Brooks AFB departments of Aerospace Medicine, Engineering, Drug Testing, and Legal Affairs until retirement in 1999.

Her passion was to support the underserved through foster parenting and community service. She received the Angel award from Brooks Air Force Base for community contributions, recognized for her volunteer work with the San Antonio Police Department, and the Boys and Girls Club. In 1991, she became a certified foster grandparent and fostered four sibling sisters ages 8-13 years. She was a Cub Scout and Brownie leader. She also hosted rank-and-file military personnel during the holidays in past years.

Our mom loved making connections with people and had a gift for bringing people together from all walks of life. She loved the ocean as she grew up by the coast. She grew the most beautiful scented yellow roses in the front yard in S.A. She enjoyed sharing a cup of coffee, her favorite sweetbread and conversation with others in any language. Most of all, she adored her grandchildren and all her nieces and nephews making sure she was present in their lives. She was a person of strong faith. She was raised as a Baptist then converted to Catholicism when she married. She attended church services on Sundays drawing strength and spiritual healing for her soul and for others. She was a devoted daughter to her mother.

Her hero was Francisca “Panchita” Garcia, our grandmother who was a symbolic mother in her heart who always showed her compassion, grace, courage and conviction. In the last 20 years, our mother was surrounded by sisterhood and friendships from the Village Christian community residents, her caregiver and dear friend Betty Mayberry, symbolic sister, Virginia Vazquez and close friends Toni, Lynn, Helen, Frances, Dora and Stan.

We are eternally grateful to have had her as our mother, grandmother, aunt, friend and now our guardian angel. We love you, Mom, “to the moon and back.” We’ll miss you dearly. You have touched so many lives and now you will touch the heavens.

Visitation will be held at Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home, 2900 Williams Drive, Georgetown, Texas 78628, on April 25, 2026, from 9:30 am to 11:00 am, followed by the funeral service at the same location from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. The family invites all guests to a reception following the service from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, also at Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home.

The Garcia family kindly asks that those who wish to contribute toward funeral services may contact Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home at 512-863-2564 to make arrangements for a donation.