Celia DeLaTorre Polanco

Celia De La Torre Polanco, 91, passed on to her eternal life on Sunday, December 10, 2017 at Regents Point in Irvine, California. She was cared for and loved by everyone there. Right after WWII, Celia began working for Sam Maceo, an organized crime boss in Galveston, Texas where she helped him run an offshore gambling casino for a while. She spent the next 45 years as a controller for various lumber yards in Galveston and Houston, Texas. She was ahead of her time, working in a man’s world of lumber and construction. By the time she left every lumber yard at which she worked, she was running the yard and left only because she had received an offer she couldn’t refuse from another bigger yard. With only a high school education, she was well regarded by everyone in the lumber and construction business. Because of that connection, she was flipping houses in the 60’s and 70’s, also well before her time.

She is pre-deceased by her husband, Henry Garate Polanco and her son, Henry Polanco, Jr. She is survived by her daughter, Henrietta (Terri) Rhodes; grandchildren Trenton Stockwell Rhodes, Ranee Rhodes Shackleton and Parker Rhodes; and great-grandchildren Abigail Rhodes Shackleton and Garrett Rand Shackleton. All currently live in California except for Parker who lives in Philadelphia.

She enjoyed gardening and keeping her yard pristine and inviting to all, a love she inherited from her father who worked as a gardener for the city of Galveston. One other thing that she inherited from her mother and father was a work ethic and a moral compass unparalleled by few others.

Her funeral service will be Friday, December, 15, 2017 at 10:00 am at Pat H. Foley & Company, 1200 West 34th Street, Houston, Texas 77018. There will be a reception following the service and burial will then take place at 2:30 pm at Galveston Memorial Park, 7301 Memorial Street, Hitchcock, Texas 77563

Celia was a woman of faith, integrity, joy, grace, and love.