of Brownsville, Texas, passed away peacefully on August 3, 2020, surrounded by his loving wife and four children, and within eyesight of his favorite specimen, the plumeria, in the garden he so masterfully tended.
Teo was born on February 20, 1927, and as a member of the Greatest Generation, he would go on to live an all-American life centered around the values of duty, honor, responsibility, and faith. He served in the infantry in the Army in WorldWar II, traveling as far as Japan to defend our freedoms. After returning from the war, he received his associates' degree in business from Texas Southmost College. An avid basketball player, he was on the 1948-1949 city championship basketball team, the Catholic War Veterans. For many years, he was also an active member of a local bowling league.
His life changed forever when he married Oralia Olga Garcia on Valentine's Day, 1953. Together, they had four children, Rebecca, Eleuterio Jr., Richard, and Cristina.
While helping Oralia raise their children, Teo made his career with the U.S. Postal Service. He became one of the first Hispanic union stewards nationally and obtained a coveted rural route. He retired at age 55, and later worked on various real estate projects, creating several subdivisions. After retirement, in the 1980s and 1990s, he leased a RV spot on South Padre Island, where the whole family would gather during the summers. Teo loved fishing, taking walks, and, most of all, watching Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune and the Dallas Cowboys.
Throughout his life, Teo was a devoted Catholic. He joined the Knights of Columbus in 1980, and he participated in charity work, patriotic activities, and other volunteer efforts at several area Catholic churches. He was a role model for everyone, especially his children, in the way that he treated others and in his generosity toward all. And he was a model husband: Oralia was the center of his world from the moment they met until the moment he left this earth.
In addition to his immediate family, Teo is survived by his sister Julia; children-in-law Dave, Liz, Martha, and Javier; grandchildren Monica, Sara, Jake, Kathleen, Natali, Ivan, Eva, Ryan, Elisa, Marlise, and Zach and their spouses, and twelve great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Cruz Galvan and Macedonia Tamayo Galvan, and his siblings Maria, Jorge, Oliva, and Manuela.
Teo will be laid to rest in Buena Vista Cemetery. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Knight of Columbus of Brownsville, Council #1553.
The plumeria flowers Teo loved are most fragrant at night. We hope that as Teo enters his night, his soul finds the peaceful beauty of eternal rest, and that he can look down on what he has sowed - his garden, his community, his family - with the pride he deserved to feel after 93 years of mortal life.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18