Nora (Larsen) Garcia Loran

Nora (Larsen) Garcia Loran left this world on June 25th, 2011 in Lakeway, Texas after a full, rich and wonderful life. She was 85. She was the beloved mother of daughters Kay Garcia McAnally, Christi Hudspeth and son Stuart Garcia. Stuart died in 1986. Nora was the devoted grandmother of Leah, Michelle and Christian and great grandmother of Evan, Ruth, Rory and Eli. She will be sorely missed by her sons in law Paul Hudspeth and Conor McAnally and grandsons in law Brynden O’Grady and Lieut Brian Jones.

Nora was born in Gorseinon, Wales on March 20th, 1926. She married army medic Ronnie Garcia in Oxfordshire after the end of the Second World War and moved to Texas with him on Christmas Day 1946. She was a lifelong educator and set up her first school in Austin, The Westbourne Kindergarten shortly after her arrival in Texas. Nora was the founding principal of St. George’s Episcopal pre-school in Austin in 1966. After moving from Austin to Lakeway, she taught at Lakeway Church for many years. She was known to hundreds of Austinites as “Miss Nora” and has taught three generations from some families. After her retirement from pre-school teaching, she taught English as a second language to the Apache Shores community. Nora was a very active community volunteer in Lakeway at Lake Travis Crisis Ministry, Lake Travis Thrift Store and Hudson Bend Ladies Auxiliary.

Nora enjoyed life to the full, had a tremendous sense of humor, was an avid traveler and was devoted to her extended family. She played tennis into her late 70s and was a daily swimmer in her 80s. She will be missed by a wide circle of friends and especially by her family.

A memorial service will be held for Nora at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 411 Ranch Road 620 South at 3pm on Sunday July 3rd.

It was Nora’s wish that In lieu of flowers people might consider making a donation to The Columbia University Stuart Garcia Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o Fred Van Sickle, Columbia Alumni Center, 622 West 113th Street, MC4520, NY, NY 10025