Alfredo Davila

He was preceded in death by his parents, Antonio Treviño Davila and Claudia Guerra Davila, and his brothers, Antonio Davila, Jr., Manuel Davila and Rudy Davila.

He is survived by his wife, Viola A. Davila; his daughter, Vianna Risa Davila, and her husband, Jason Buch; his beloved cat, Mimi; and many adored nieces and nephews.

Al was a classic South Texan, spending his childhood on the ranchland and farms of Karnes County. He traced his lineage to early Spanish settlers of the region. After graduating from Kenedy High School, Al attended college at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin, planning to pursue a degree in civil engineering. He left college and enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 as a field artillery officer and air reconnaissance observer and spent time working with the Green Berets. A pivotal moment in the war came when he declined to carry out his superior officer’s order to fire on Vietnamese civilian loggers near Tay Ninh City, because he said there was no intelligence connecting them to the Vietcong or the North Vietnamese Army. In response, his superior officer sent Al into the jungle. Al survived this traumatic experience, which would come up often as his dementia progressed. But he always looked back fondly on the people he met in Vietnam and believed firmly that the U.S. had no business intervening in their country.

After the war, he eventually took a job with the Texas Workforce Commission in San Antonio, then called the Texas Employment Commission, where for a time he worked with Gary Job Corps. He made many wonderful friends in his career with the commission and instilled in his daughter, by example, that there’s no point in work if you can’t also have fun there.

He eventually went back to college after retiring from the state in the late 1990s. His goal was to graduate before his daughter: He beat her by one semester, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in history.

While going to school, he worked full time, first at Home Depot and then as a park ranger for the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, a job he loved because it afforded him the chance to meet and talk about history with people from all over the world. Al loved people. Occasionally, he made it a goal to say hello to as many passersby as he could when he went on a walk.

After college, he worked for six years as a fifth grade teacher, in Southwest and San Antonio independent school districts. Al said he wanted to be a teacher because he wanted to make a difference in a young child’s life.

He was a jack of all trades. Like his father, he could fix most any problem with a car and could jerry-rig anything, even making his own tools. He was constantly hauling things with his homemade trailer and going to Pick N Pull for auto parts. He was a carpenter, building elaborate shelves and window and door trims. He transformed the last home he and his wife shared, doing many of the renovations himself.

Al was an incredibly active person. He loved being outside, taking his daughter on hikes, and later enjoyed kayaking. He played volleyball, softball and basketball with coworkers. For a time, he was a runner and then became an avid cyclist, sometimes bicycling to all of San Antonio’s Spanish colonial missions. In the last years of his life, his favorite thing to do was to go to Brackenridge Park in San Antonio. He spent many happy hours there among the trees.

He loved music, all kinds, from Fats Domino to Creedence Clearwater Revival to Ana Gabriel. He often would start his mornings sitting in the living room in the dark, drinking coffee and listening to CDs. His true love was mariachi and conjunto, the latter genre reminding him of the plataformas of his youth – the outdoor dances his parents attended in the country. Al never considered himself a dancer, declaring he had no rhythm (though he was a drummer in high school), but he took great joy in dancing later in life. At his assisted living facility, if cumbia or mariachi music came on, he’d go up to the staff and dance with them. Somewhere, we know, Al is zapateando right now.

He loved to laugh. Steve Martin was a perennial favorite. He often poked fun at himself, declaring he was raised in a barn or was just being a wise guy. His laughter was distinct and infectious, as was his spirit.

Family was incredibly important to Al. He maintained relationships with cousins spread across South Texas. He loved his brothers, got along famously with his father-in-law and took great care of his beautiful wife, Viola. But the light of his life was his daughter, Vianna, in whose presence he invariably lit up, even near the end. Al was an amazing husband and father, brother, uncle, son-in-law, brother-in-law, father-in-law and friend. Dementia robbed him of many things but not his joy for life and that signature smile. We will remain forever grateful for the light he brought into the world and into our lives.

The family would like to thank Pacific Hospice for the care and compassion they showed Al in his final days, in particular Haidyn and Britney. We also want to thank the staff at Grand Brook Memory Care for taking care of dad over the last six months.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 1, at Sunset Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Hwy, San Antonio, TX 78218, followed by internment at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. That will be followed by a luncheon at a location provided by the family.