Cecilia Chavez

born on November 11th, 1944 and returned to her Creator on August 13th, 2020

Cecilia Chavez went to be with the Lord on Thursday morning, August 13, 2020 at the age of 75 years old. She peacefully departed from her Houston, Texas home surrounded by her husband and family. Cecilia was born on November 11th, 1944 in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico to Rosa Gallardo and Jesus de la Mora Gomez. Cecilia’s happiest childhood memories were with her mother in Mexico. She came to the United States when she was 8 years old and grew up in the neighborhood, Crisol, Houston, Texas. She met her husband, Ernest Chavez at Marshall Junior High when they were 13 years old and their friendship blossomed over the years. Their first date was at a Houston downtown restaurant where they began their courtship. They married on September 28th, 1963 and her dedication remained to him for 56 years. Cecilia’s children were Patricia, Ernest, Joe, Ruben, Margaret, Rosita, Joe'Michael and Javien. Cecilia focused on taking great care of her husband, children and home. She was her husband’s friend, lover and wife.

Cecilia started her professional career by starting a private school bus service. She continued for 4 years and she remembered that it was one of her most fulfilling and fun jobs. She made every moment count. She motivated her little passengers to make A’s on their report card with fun rewards and incentives, talking and singing in her 15 passenger van. Cecilia also alongside her husband fixed their properties and she worked on sheet rock, painting, flooring and roofing. Cecilia attended a SER Professional Secretary Course where she excelled in her studies and presentation. After the whole class was interviewed, she was the only one selected from the whole class to be hired at White Swann where she handled a half million dollars in transactions daily. She started as Night Cashier and quickly advanced to Head Cashier. She also took courses in Houston Community College for Accounting. She loved accounting, bookkeeping and payroll. She was outstanding wherever she worked: at JC’s Reproductions, Inc., at Christ The King Catholic Church, at H&R Block, at the Census 2010, and at the Harris County Election twice. Cecilia worked 11 years at the Diocese of Galveston-Houston under the leadership of Bishop Fiorenza where she was promoted from Hispanic Ministries clerk, to executive Switchboard, then finally promoted again to manage the Insurance Legal Department. Another place she worked was the Rothco Chapel where her excellence shone bright amidst the many dignitaries and had the opportunity to sit at a luncheon with President Carter and Nelson Mandela. Cecilia, together with her husband, was an activist for the Hispanic (Chicano) movement. She marched in peaceful protests and demonstrations for social justice of that time. In 1986, the United States created the First Amnesty Program for illegal residents. Cecilia along with her husband jumped at the opportunity to help their community by promoting awareness, talking with the people, and helping with the process to completion. They used Christ the King Catholic Church as a location for processing and enabled 189 individuals to receive a righteous, legal pathway into U.S. Citizenship.

Cecilia’s creativity was unmatched. She could turn nothing into something. Her fantastic imagination for decorating and making new ideas come alive was amazing. Cecilia’s decorating skills were enhanced when she completed courses in cake decorating and flower arrangements along with gaining professional experience with gift wrapping. Cecilia and her husband also did food catering. Cecilia coordinated the catering and the decorations for numerous Quinceañeras, Weddings, Baby Showers and Birthday parties. She helped anyone who needed help with funeral arrangements as well. Cecilia always participated in fund raisers to help individuals, schools, churches, organizations, teams, and political campaigns to accomplish the goals. She loved thinking of new ideas and creating! She was a hard worker, full of energy, and an early riser, working until everything was finished to perfection. She was extremely serious about her work but yet she knew how to have fun as well.

Cecilia loved to vacation in Mexico like to Acapulco, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Chapala and Guadalajara with her husband and family. When Cecilia and her husband retired to Mexico for a few years, she made new friends and hosted fun parties for the retirement community to have a blast with live Mariachis. All throughout their time together, Cecilia and her husband enjoyed playing cards placing their bets with each other, flirting, laughing, dancing and singing to the music.

As a young Mom, Cecilia also was a baseball coach. Cecilia coached a girls’ team that made it to State competition one year. Cecilia decided to attend the Catholic Cursillo Retreat and she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Cecilia was a Sunday school teacher for many years in the Catholic Church where she creatively held teen’s attention and inspired them to seek the Lord and have a personal relationship with Him. Later, she along with her husband mentored young married couples encouraging them to continue loving and forgiving. Cecilia and her husband also initiated a trip for 46 youth at Christ The King Catholic Church to see the Pope who was scheduled to be in Colorado.

In her recent years, she loved spending time with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren watching the Food Channel, playing cards and enjoying Astros baseball games with popcorn. She loved teaching her grandchildren to dance and loved dancing with them. Her favorite genres were oldies, cumbias, salsas, polkas, and country. She especially listened to Frank Sinatra, Juan Gabriel, and Ramon Ayala.

Cecilia enjoyed writing poems, sketching, drawing, and painting. One of her quotes was: “Painting and art classes make me forget the world.”

In everything she did, she wanted excellence, discipline, and timeliness. She wanted to achieve as much as she could each and every day. No day was wasted. Cecilia lived a full life with her husband, family and friends.

She was a giver and not a taker. She held others to high expectations because she required it of herself. Cecilia over the years did all she knew that the Lord wanted her to do. She took care of her husband, her children, her grandchildren and whoever came through her life. She fed the hungry, clothed the poor, housed the homeless, wrote the prisoner, took care of the sick and helped where she could.

Cecilia will always be remembered by her family and friends.

Cecilia Chavez was survived by her husband, Ernest Chavez; Cecilia’s children: Patricia Chavez, Ernest Chavez, Jr. and wife JoAnn, Ruben Chavez and wife Casandra, Margaret Chavez-Meza and husband Oscar, Rosita Chavez-Rodriguez and husband Rey, Joe’Michael Chavez and Javien Chavez; Cecilia’s grandchildren: Rudy, Raquel, Adrian, Angelo, Joseph, Jacob, Matthew, Zachary, Nathaniel, Briana, Aiden, Alina; Cecilia’s great grandchildren: Mitchell, Jeremiah, Abraham, Elijah, Vincent, Audrey, Moses, Noah, Keyanna, Kaleb, Kalani, Daniel, Violet.

Cecilia was also survived by her brothers: Javier, Steve, Valentine, David and many nephews and nieces.

Cecilia will be greeted at the doors of Heaven by her mother, Rosa Vasquez; her grandmother, Refugio Cuca Lopez; her son, Joe Luis Chavez; her granddaughter, Erica Monique Chavez; her sister, Dolores (Loli) Yanez; her mother-n-law, Casimera Chavez.

Proverbs 31:10-31