Alda Cantu Muñoz

Alda was born on December 2, 1946 to Gustavo and Maria Cabrera Cantú in Brownsville, Texas, where she attended the public schools and graduated from Brownsville High School, Class of 1965. Vivacious and talented, she was a drum majorette and twirler for the Fighting Eagle Band and an All-State flutist. She won a music scholarship to Del Mar College and moved to the city to study and live with her maternal aunt Frances P. Cabrera and grandmother San Juana Peña Casas, whose family had lived on the Westside since the early 1900s.

After earning her associate’s degree, Alda married her high school sweetheart David Rousset Muñoz, Sr. and the young couple made Corpus Christi their permanent home in 1970 when he joined the Caller-Times as a pressman. Alda is most popularly remembered as an educator for the Corpus Christi Independent School District. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (then Corpus Christi State University). She began her teaching career in the early 1980s at Hamlin Junior High, where she carried on the tradition of producing the annual ninth-grade spring talent show. When CCISD adopted its middle school structure, she transferred to Ray High School with the ninth graders and continued as the speech and drama coach until her retirement in 2008.

She adored her students, especially those who participated in the many extracurricular and UIL activities that she coordinated. She also enjoyed mentoring many pre-service teachers in theatre arts and bilingual education, her third credential. In retirement, Alda continued teaching at Incarnate Word Academy, at TAMU-CC’s international English-language program, and as a substitute teacher for CCISD. Alda was very independent and civic-minded.

Before becoming a teacher, she worked as a credit union loan officer and successfully sued her employer for gender and racial discrimination. This injustice spurred her to participate in many organizations during her lifetime. She was a flutist for Dr. Leo Carrillo’s Estudiantina and participated in the Canto Al Pueblo Festival. A descendent of long-time Brownsville settlers, she was very proud of her Tejano heritage and traced her lineage to the Spanish land grant era. She was a member of the Spanish American Genealogical Society. She was a union representative for the American Federation of Teachers and rallied for teacher pay at the state capitol. She was a proud Democrat and a registered voter.

An ardent Roman Catholic, she worked for Bishop Humberto Sousa Medeiros of the Brownsville Diocese in the late 1960s. As a lay worker and member of the National Cursillo Movement in Corpus Christi, she helped establish the CCD program at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the 1980s and served for many years as a Eucharistic minister and a lector for her home parish, Most Precious Blood. She also directed many Easter Passion plays at both parishes.

Alda is preceded in death by her parents and her beloved son, David Muñoz, Jr. She is survived by her husband David Rousset Muñoz, Sr.; her children Dr. Laura K. (Natasha M. Crawford) Muñoz of Lincoln, Nebraska; Audra L. (Martin) Luis of Corpus Christi, and Marc W. (Christine) Muñoz, Sr. of LaMarque, Texas; by her siblings Gustavo N. Cantú and Elsa L. Cantú of San Antonio, Dr. Sandra I. (Ronnie) Rodriguez of Brownsville, and Yrma L. Garcia of Pico Rivera, California; by her grandchildren William D., Natalia A., and Marysa G. Luis, and Marc W., Jr. and Mason W. Muñoz; as well as many extended family members and dear friends. The family thanks the many relatives and friends who cared for Alda in her last years, especially Audra and the extended Luis family. We also thank the healthcare providers who assisted Alda in her last days. Honoring her as pallbearers will be Michael A. Cantú, David Flores, Martin G. Luis, William D. Luis, Marc W. Muñoz, Sr., and James A. Perez.

Visitation will be held from 5:00-9:00 P.M. with the recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, at Funeraria Del Angel-Memorial Holly Funeral Home, 3442 Holly Road.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 10 A.M. at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church, 3502 Saratoga Blvd.

Burial will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.

Visit https://www.dignitymemorial.com/ to offer condolences and sign guestbook.