Maria I Montiel

Maria Irma Montiel was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on July 11, 1935 to Modesto Gonzalez and Teresa Soto. She was one of three children. At a young age, Tia Irma found herself without parents, her mom died at the age of 50. So, with her parents gone she stayed with her two brothers, but that was difficult on her. Having two of her mom’s sisters married to two brothers living in the Rio Grande Valley would find her in a new country and a new home in Texas. She came to live with Grandpa Nino and Grandma Nina Villescas in San Juan.

At the age of 26 she left San Juan, worked in agriculture in Indiana and eventually landed in Chicago, Illinois where she met and married Pete G. Montiel in 1962. There, she worked in the manufacturing district with the Skills Tools Company and with the Spiegal Catalog Company. It was with Spiegal that Tia Irma learned about fashion. She was able to see and handle the Spiegal merchandise and that would give her a leg-up on the latest fashions and how to coordinate outfits. As a couple they also ran a hardware store and rental apartments. In the 1980’s she and her husband sold their business properties in Chicago to move to a warmer climate. With the money from the sale they bought 3 small homes for rental property, a lot, and their homestead on Buena Vista Road in Hot Springs, Arkansas where they loved to entertain and welcome family and friends for visits.

After her husband’s death in March of 2013, she returned to the Rio Grande Valley.

Maria Irma Montiel is survived by her first cousins: Pedro and Gavino Villescas of San Juan; Maria de la Luz Rodriguez from McAllen, Maria Guadalupe Perkins from Edinburg, Maria de Jesus Iglesias and Rosa Hinojosa from McAllen; Jesus Villescas from McAllen, a brother-in-law Paul Gutierrez from Chicago, and several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents Modesto Gonzalez and Teresa Soto Gonzalez, her two brothers Horacio and Cesar Gonzalez and by the love of her life, her husband of 51 years--Pete G. Montiel.

Services for Maria I. Montiel will be at Funeraria del Angel Palm Valley in Pharr, Texas. Visitation will be Sunday, December 30, 2018 from 3:00 – 9:00 PM, with a rosary at 7:00 PM. Funeral services will be Monday, December 31, 2018 with the celebration of mass at 1:00 PM at St. John’s Catholic Church in San Juan, Texas. Internment will follow at Valley Memorial Gardens, Taylor Road, Mission, Texas.