Victoria Leyendecker Duffield

Victoria was born August 16, 1946 in Laredo, Texas. She was raised in downtown Laredo on San Agustín Plaza, in the Leyendecker home on Flores Street, built by the family in 1866 and now a Texas Historic Landmark.

She attended Ursuline Academy along with each of her sisters and graduated in 1964. She continued her education at The University of Dallas and graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish. She also attended the University of the Americas in Mexico City.

Post-graduation, she worked as a mortgage loan officer at Fannie Mae in Dallas, Texas. It was in Dallas that she met the love of her life, Nat Duffield. They were married on June 12, 1976 at San Agustín Catholic Pro-Cathedral in Laredo. They celebrated grandly with a reception across the plaza at La Posada Hotel and honeymooned in Morelia, Mexico.

Vicki and Nat spent their years together living in Dallas, Texas; Pauls Valley, Oklahoma; and Duncan, Oklahoma, before ultimately residing in Houston, Texas in their retirement. Vicki was an accomplished watercolorist and an effortless gardener. Her backyard oasis filled with vibrant bougainvillea and lush foliage provided ample subject matter for her paintings.

Her most beloved accomplishment was her family. She took pride in her children and even more in the time she spent as “Nana” to her four grandchildren.

Victoria was preceded in death by her loving parents, Alfonso A. Leyendecker and Maria Estella Palacios Leyendecker, her only brother Alfonso A. Leyendecker, Jr., and her four sisters, Magdalena Leyendecker Zúñiga, Ethel Leyendecker Arguindegui, Maria Estela Leyendecker Boudreaux, and Lucía Leyendecker Curtin.

She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Nathaniel H. Duffield; her daughter, Christina Duffield Carroll and husband William; her son, Stephen Forrest Duffield and wife Jennifer; her grandchildren, Victoria Isabel Carroll, William Daniel Carroll, Stella Marie Duffield, and Ethan Forrest Duffield, all of Houston; her sisters-in-law, Joan Duffield Lee of Dallas, Texas; Carole McMillan Duffield of Holdenville, Oklahoma; and Marcia Wrbas of Georgetown, Texas; her brother-in-law, John Boudreaux of Overland Park, Kansas; and loved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Funeral Rites will be celebrated on Friday, May 8, 2026, as follows:

10:00am Holy Rosary at St. Cecilia Catholic Church,

10:30am Mass of Christian Burial at St. Cecilia Catholic Church,

12:30pm Rite of Committal at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home & Cemetery

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Catholic Charities.