Obituary
Silvia Tovar, of Dallas, TX, 69, went to her heavenly home on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Dallas. She was born in San Antonio, TX, the eldest daughter of Rodolfo and Jovita (Alvarado) Arispe. She was a member of Providence High School’s Class of 1967. After spending time in the workforce, she completed her Bachelor’s degree from Our Lady Of the Lake University in San Antonio at the age of 41.
In 1971, she married Narciso Tovar, Sr. at the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, TX; they raised three lovely children – Narciso, Jr., Javier and Stefanie.
Silvia’s career with the Internal Revenue Service spanned nearly three decades as she served communities in Texas (Austin, Harlingen and McAllen), Georgia and Puerto Rico. During her tenure with the IRS, Silvia actively served in Hispanic and elderly communities, providing free tax consultation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program. Silvia was also a passionate advocate of the Hispanic Internal Revenue Employees (HIRE) association – a 501(c)(3) association dedicated to the recruitment & advancement of Hispanics and other minorities in the IRS. During her time with HIRE, Silvia was elected National President of the association for three consecutive years.
Before joining the IRS, Silvia & Narciso Sr. owned and operated two separate businesses for several years. The first was a barbacoa business in the western barrio of San Antonio, followed by a neighborhood bodega in central San Antonio. Silvia was always ready with a funny and, at times, corny quip for customers. Patrons would often seek out Silvia to share a story or two over a cold bottle of Big Red or bowl of fresh caldo.
Silvia was a member of the Dominican Laity and an active participant of the Catholic community in every city where she laid roots. Her ministry included serving in the first ladies group at St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in John’s Creek, GA. That group attended ‘Christ Renews His Parish’ and presented several times in subsequent months. She also worked with St Vincent de Paul in Atlanta, GA, helping people in the community who needed a translator and leading a travel team to bring Christ Renews His Parish to St Jude’s Catholic Church in Roswell. Silvia was a founding member of the Guadalupanas group at St. Mary Magdalen’s Church in San Antonio and a leader of the RCIA group at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Austin.
Silvia was a friend to all, possessing loads of happy memories from a myriad of sweet friendships. From helping a good friend pass her final statistics exam to earn her degree, to being elected as ‘frowns keeper’ on a mission trip, to being the first to extend a warm embrace to a needy friend, to nudging buddies out of their comfort zone to go on that first date, to teaching Spanish to her newest friends at the clubhouse, to sharing bingo strategies, Silvia was ultimately, as one person described “the best buddy you could possibly have”.
Silvia’s love of music cannot be forgotten and she enjoyed listening, dancing, and singing. Silvia was a HUGE fan of the Beatles (her heart beat extra strong for Paul). She knew how to cut a rug with the best of them. She could strut, cumbia, boogie, samba and jazz hand all on the same dance floor … on the same night! She sang mezzo-soprano in her high school choir and enjoyed singing in church. She often sang Hall & Oats’ ‘Rich Girl’ with her daughter Stefanie. She happily partook in her fair share of MTV time with her son Javier and attended an Andrea Bocelli concert with her son, Narciso, Jr.
Silvia never met a stranger, making herself available to help everyone she came into contact with – be it with a moment of prayer, a ride to school, a late-night conversation or to serve as a sponsor for confirmation. She loved to serve the community.
Silvia loved Sudoku and Rummikub and was actually quite a good player – even though there was that one time she never got to lay down any of her tiles, leaving her with more than 150 points on the board. That never happened again. Legend has it that Silvia took to reading up on various Rummikub strategies, making sure that being stuck with that many points would never happen again.
A funny girl at heart, Silvia always looked for ways to help people laugh. A friend of hers recently noted how she strolled over to her second-floor apartment, exclaiming, “Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”. After a few moments of hearing nothing, Silvia shouted a bit louder, “Hey, Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”
Still no answer.
Silvia then took to her phone and, when her friend answered, Silvia said, “Hey there, Rapunzel! Didn’t you hear me? I was asking you to let down your hair! What gives?!”
They both got a big laugh about that.
Most of all, Silvia loved her family and was never shy about expressing her devotion to each and every member. Her sweet grandchildren, Javier Jr. (7 years old) and Luna (3 years old), will have memories of Silvia playing Ravin’ Rabbids on her Wii system, turning a traffic jam to a dance party outside of the car and in front of dozens of strangers, singing sweet lullabies as they drifted off to sleep, or sharing lifelong lessons with a loving (yet decisive) approach.
Silvia relished her time with family. Whether rearing a childhood pet chicken (Mr. Buc Buc) with her brother Louis, playing host to a joyful First Communion celebration, making buñuelos for a nephew’s birthday, pulling some strings to get her 6-year old sister Helen on the Captain Gus show, or introducing the joy and mayhem of cascarones to her daughter-in-law, Rhonda, she was always there for family.
Silvia is survived by her children Narciso and his wife Rhonda; Javier and grandson Javier Jr.; Stefanie, her husband Zachary and granddaughter, Luna. She also leaves an older brother Louis Arispe; brother Rudy Arispe Jr. and his wife Mary Anne; sister Maria Elena Arispe and her husband Neo Teck Haut; sister Rosalinda Arispe; and David Arispe and his wife Hazelyn Arispe. Silvia also leaves several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Narciso, Sr.
She will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.
A visitation will be held 5pm-7pm on May 20, 2019, at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas, TX. The funeral will be at 1pm on May 21, 2019, at St. Patrick’s Church in Dallas, TX. Flowers are welcomed. As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations in Silvia’s name may be made to LULAC. Messages of condolence are welcomed online at the Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home website.
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