Our mom, Angelita R. Flores, was born May 31, 1928, in Marlin, Texas, to Santos Espinoza Ramirez and Enrique “Henry” Ramirez. The family moved to Houston when Mom was a child. They lived on Canal Street until the family moved to La Bonita which, in those days, was way out in the country. Today, it’s now just outside N. Loop E.
Mom met our Dad, Ponce Cruz Flores, “en La Bonita” when they were only children. She told us Dad tried to impress her by tying a cape (really an old towel) around his shoulders like Superman and “flying” over the ditch in front of her house. It must have worked, because they eventually got married in 1947, after he came back from serving in WWII. They remained married for 56 years until Dad passed in 2003.
As a teenager, Mom worked at the M&M Building as an “elevator girl.” Later, she worked as a waitress at the Walgreens across the street from the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston. She said she met many famous people while working there. I’m sure there were other jobs in between, but at some point, Mom taught herself how to read schematics and worked as an assembly line group leader for several electronics companies building components for some of the earliest space crafts. When Dad started his own ceramic tile business, Mom taught herself how to do payroll, state and federal filings, accounts payable and receivables, and more. Mom then became a partner in the business and the bookkeeper. Mom and Dad remained partners in the business until they retired together.
Somewhere during that time, though, Mom and Dad also bought a 100-acre ranch in Alto, Texas. Almost every weekend, that’s where you would find them mending fences, cutting and baling hay, doctoring cattle. Some of her worst injuries took place at the ranch. She suffered a broken pelvic when a horse threw her. Another time, while checking a corral gate, she forgot to put the truck she was driving on “park” instead of “neutral” and it ran over her. Nonetheless, Mom was always at Dad’s side working. Little time was left for hunting and fishing. Their reward at the end of a long, hard day was to sit on the back porch watching the sun go down, enjoying a cold one while listening to the “quiet” until the wolves started to howl.
Preceding Mom in their final rest was our Dad, and her parents; her sister, Candida Ramirez Mindiola (husband, David); and, her brother, Henry Ramirez, Jr. (wife, Mary Alice, also in her final rest).
Surviving Mom are her children, Marina Flores Sugg (husband, Kenneth), D. Laurie Flores, Alfred R. Flores, Sylvia Flores Coffey (husband, David), Steven Cruz Flores (wife, Blanca), and Gregory R. Flores (wife, Martha). Mom is also survived by her brother-in-law, David Mindiola of San Bernardino, CA; 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and 1 great great-grandchild; her Flores brothers- and sisters-in-law, many nephews and nieces, and numerous other Ramirez and Espinoza family members.
Our Mom, Angelita Ramirez Flores, was a dynamic woman, a fighter who overcame many obstacles, challenges and hardships throughout her lifetime. She was also a loyal, loving and devoted wife and mother, whose response to “Love you, Mom!” was always, “Love you more!” Mom, we’re missing you so much with all our heart and soul. Our only comfort is that you are now with Dad, listening to the quiet, watching the sun go down. May you Rest in Peace, Mom. “Love you!”
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