Born in Presidio, Texas, she spent her youth at the family home on a hill overlooking her parents’ farm land along the Rio Grande that is an integral part of the Big Bend Country. During the 1930s, she and her siblings experienced the last vestiges of frontier life in far West Texas, where chores such as churning butter were the norm. She carried the value of hard work that she learned during childhood with her for the rest of her life.
After graduating from high school, she attended Sul Ross College in Alpine, Texas, and Texas Western College in El Paso. In 1953, she married the love of her life, Edmundo Soza. The couple soon moved to El Paso, where they raised four children. Mary Lou was a devoted working mother and wife who managed to balance the duties of family life with the demands of the transportation firms where she was employed. Her family was everything to her. Her children will always be thankful for the sacrifices she made to provide them with the best possible opportunities.
During her years in El Paso, Mary Lou led a full life. She enjoyed playing games with her children on Saturday evenings and loved sewing in her spare time. Her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were celebrated by friends and family. Travels with her husband included journeys to Hawaii, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Following retirement, Mary Lou and her husband moved to Dallas to be close to children and grandchildren. During these golden years, the couple traveled to Israel and Jordan. Mary Lou’s faith deepened and she grew to love and appreciate the common ground of Christianity and Judaism. The Word of God and Psalms of the Bible were always her source of strength and inspiration.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Edmundo, and is survived by two sons, Eddie and Robert, and their spouses Nellie and Debbie; two daughters, Becky Kitchel and Terri Henson, and their spouses Bruce and Tim; six grandchildren; one great-granddaughter and numerous family members and friends.
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