Jutta Kathe Garza

Mrs. Jutta Garza, age 61, passed away on July 26, 2012. She is survived by her husband, Alex Garza; daughter, Jonell Garza; sons, Cary Garza and his wife Selena, and Nick Garza and friend, Emily Whiteman. She is also survived by three grandchildren, Madeline Koehler and Logan and Brett Garza. Family will receive friends at St. Matthew Catholic Church from 7 to 7:30 PM Wednesday, August 1, 2012.

ROSARY

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

7:30 P.M.

ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIC CHURCH

10703 WURZBACH ROAD

MASS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012

9:30 A.M.

ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIC CHURCH

Interment will follow in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Pallbearers include Gorman Sekula, Craig Kuebker, Angel Garcia, Tom Shusta, Ron Ratliff, and Art Briseno. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations to the Cancer Research Institute, One Exchange Plaza, 55 Broadway, Suite 1802

New York, NY 10006.

Jutta was born and raised in Weinheim, Germany, to Manny and Kathe Sang. While her parents spent time completing military tours, Jutta spent a large part of her childhood with her grandparents Franz and Ella Fletner and her aunt Martha Betsill. Her adventurous spirit began right there in Germany at an early age. She shared stories of going down in those scary cellars, eating cherries in the trees, and riding the bus to the farm to spend time with Uncle Kurt and family. She laughed when she would tell us that she was only 8 years old when she would get on that bus all alone to go play with her cousins. She would be gone for days with no phone calls or communication to find out from her family if she ever actually made it there. What a different time. Her most cherished memories were those of learning how to instill family values, and learning how to provide a nurturing home and garden for the people she loves.

At the time she was completing high school, Jutta's parents received military orders to move to the United States, and even better, Texas! That was all she ever wantedto get to Texas. Her anticipation was slightly diminished when her first experience in Texas was the "oven"of Laredo, Texas. But it was there where she met the love of her life Alex Garza. Alex talks about their first meeting. Jutta was prancing up and down in front of his car at Whataburgerimagine that.

Upon that meeting Jutta starting building her family life, instilling her German cultures on a new generation. For over forty years, Alex and Jutta raised their children and grandchildren in a home centered around love, faith, and togetherness. Jutta loved family time, and holiday traditions, cooking, and decorating. She truly valued spending this time with her children and the extended Garza family. She loved her memories of Adolfo and Rosa Garza, and nothing demonstrated her generosity more than the time she spent caring for Adolfo in their home for the last months of his life.

Alex loves Jutta's sense of community and belonging. She was perfectly happy living her life within a few miles from home. She made her own small town even in the big city. The biggest part of that community was St. Matthew Catholic Church and School. Jutta began her adventure on Wurzbach Road while Nick was attending Mother's Day Out. She began working with the program and the story begins. "Utah" expanded that work to the CYO program where her legacy grew. Utah WAS St. Matthew's CYO. Her spirit will always remain with the concession stand, the fields, the coaches, the referees, umpires, and scorekeepers, and most importantly, the children growing up in the programs. Cary and Jonell talk about how through that work, their mom instilled in them her love of community. At early ages, she involved them with her work, and now their lives as adults are filled with that same commitment.

For the past 19 years, Jutta joyfully worked at St. Matthew Catholic School as a Pre-Kindergarten assistant. She has been a charter staff member since the school's inception in August, 1993. Her spirit will remain always in the hearts of the teachers, staff, parents, and students. In recent years, Jutta fulfilled her desire of having her grandchildren attend St. Matthew School. That made Jutta's life complete. She cherished her time there with Maddie and Logan, and looked forward to seeing Brett in the program this school year.

Lastly, Utah will be dearly missed by her friends. Her unique personality will always be treasured. We will miss Utah's outrageous stories, her "Let's Go" regimen, and ongoing shopping adventures. She will be missed at our gatherings in her beautiful home surrounded by her heartwarming garden. She will be missed on Bunco nights and Poker nights. We will miss her shrimp pasta, her tossed salad, apple strudel, and German Christmas cookies. We will miss our trips to Lake Charles, our cruises to the Caribbean, and basically anywhere Utah would take us. Most importantly, we cherish how she taught us how to live, and how she lovingly showed us how to accept God's plan in good times and in bad. Friends are truly God's way of taking care of us.

The family of Jutta Garza wishes to express its gratitude to St. Matthew School and Community for their continual support and friendship. We thank Dr. Craig Kuebker, Dr. Antonio Santillan and the staff of Cancer Care Center for their care and expertise. Jutta cherished the friendships she established with the nurses on the Women's Health floor at Methodist Hospital. The family lovingly thanks Jutta's circle of friends (most recently known by the nurses as "Utah's Entourage) for a lifetime of memories, and for the care, the laughter and the tears they shared during these last few months. Finally, we thank the staff from Christus Santa Rosa Hospice Care for bringing love, peace and prayer to Jutta and the family at this time.