Wanda Ann Morales

Wanda Ann Morales, 66, was born in Lebanon Tennessee, on 4/29/1959, and passed away on 11/09/2025, surrounded by her family, who adored her. She was married to and is survived by her beloved husband of 25 years, Jaime (Jimmy) Morales. She is also survived by son, Michael, daughters, Jamie Lynn (Rick), Valerie, and Melissa, son, Matthew, grandchildren, Deena (engaged to Colby), Angel, Reese Vicente, Gracie, and great-grandson, Aires Adriel, sister, Glenda Phillips, and brother, Randal, along with a large extended family. She was preceded in death by her mother, Genel Trusty, father, Thomas Eugene Trusty, brother, Ricky Trusty, and brother-in-law, Eduardo Morales.

Wanda met Jimmy on the internet, not on a dating app, but as a pen pal. They communicated by mail for a year before they finally spoke on the phone. Jimmy fell head over heels with her sweet southern drawl. Jimmy also learned that she was kind and funny, but also very smart and had a sharp wit and infectious laugh. She was also a great mom.

After maxing out their credit cards on the phone and internet (before long-distance phone calls and internet were free), they decided to finally meet face to face. Wanda flew to El Paso in February, 1996, and immediately knew they were a perfect match. So, a couple of crazy people, each with a couple of crazy kids, decided right then that they should spend the rest of their lives together. So, after another year of a long-distance relationship, Wanda packed up all they had in Knoxville, Tennessee, including her two teen-aged kids (one that definitely did not want to come, but is still here, with her own family), and a crazy cat, and drove 1,700 miles with Jimmy to her new home in El Paso. After completing the process of converting to Catholicism (she was a Southern Baptist), they were married at St. Thomas Acquinas Church on October 21, 2000. They celebrated their 25th anniversary by confirming their vows and celebrating with many family and friends just last month.

Wanda first joined Santa Lucia Church, where Jimmy was a long-time parishioner, but they eventually moved to San Antonio de Padua Church. She loved her pastor and parish community and was dearly loved there. She received many warm hugs and much love and support from our church choir and many others who adored her. She also received loving, spiritual guidance from our pastor, Father Mariano Lopez, who provided much comfort and hope in Christ’s promise of eternal life.

After moving to El Paso, Wanda continued her education, ultimately receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in 2002, and her Masters of Business Administration in 2007, which was one of her proudest achievements. This all happened while she and Jimmy raised their kids and she worked as an IT technician. She repaired computers as a contractor for a national company, as the only female contractor in this half region of the U.S., which was also notable triumph. She eventually worked for Hewlitt Packard as a computer tech, where she moved up to Manager, Regional Manager, and then District Manager for the Western United States. But, her greatest achievement was raising a beautiful family, filled with love.

Wanda wasn’t a natural outdoorsy-type, but Jimmy is, so there she was—fishing, camping, and doing all the other outdoor stuff next to her crazy husband—until one time, when bears visited the camp. After that, she chose cabins and travel trailers over camping. In fact, her wonderful son, Michael, bought a travel trailer so that they could all travel together to beautiful places, including one of their yearly trips to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico—one of her favorite places in the whole world, with travelling partners, John and Rosemary Marin, and their family.

Wanda also loved crafts and became a master of them. She was a very spiritual person, so late in her life, she took up making beautiful, natural stone rosaries. She made two sets of 50 rosaries for the first holy communion and confirmation candidates of San Antonio De Padua Church. She also made many personalized, artisan rosaries for the large extended family. Some of them are displayed here. Her wish was that they would be a symbol of remembrance of her love for everyone.

Wanda was diagnosed with rare fallopian tube cancer in 2016. After a period of remission, the cancer returned in 2022 and 2024. Because she did not know how much time she would have left on Earth, she did not take one minute for granted. Despite many challenges with her illness, Wanda never gave up. She was lovingly cared for by Jimmy and their son, Michael, who is an angel sent by God. The family thanks her oncologist, Dr. Eugene Toy, and all the nurses and staff at UMC who cared for her, including Miriam Rodriguez and Luis Gonzalez, who exhibited the highest level of skill, compassion and professionalism.

Anyone who knew Wanda couldn’t help but love her because she was the perfect example of pure love. Rest with the Angels, our Beloved Wanda.