Surrounded by loved ones, Maria del Rosario Cortez, daughter of Juan Chavez and Maria Guadalupe Sierra, peacefully left this earth on March 5th, 2025, on Ash Wednesday, at the age of 82 years, 4 months, and 28 days. She was born on October 7th, 1942, in Aramberri, Nuevo, Leon, Mexico and lived most of her life in McAllen, Texas, in her little corner of the world which was North 31st Street.
She married at the very young age of 15 and she and Benjamin Cortez were married for 65 years prior to her beloved husband’s death on 03/11/2024. They had 10 children, including seven sons, Francisco, Javier, Arnulfo, David, Israel, Roberto, and Gerardo, and three daughters, Teresita, Maricela, and Cynthia. These 10 children went off and had children of their own for an impressive total of 37 grandchildren. From these grandchildren came 21 great-grandchildren. Benjamin and Maria del Rosario Cortez were the proud and honorable matriarch and patriarch of this grand family.
Maria del Rosario Cortez adored her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She had such a huge heart, she also opened her arms to her daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. In addition to her great cooking skills, she was a wonderful wife and mother, setting the bar extremely high for her daughter’s-in-law. Thank you, Suegra…. She also loved baseball, listening and dancing to music, gardening, playing Loteria, making Easter eggs, and knitting.
Her pride and joy were her children, always adoringly doing whatever was within her power to be near, help, and guide them. She was a strong woman who ruled with a changla, a varita, or a hard stare. With a varita in hand and a sly smile, she would explain how she selected the varita she held in her hand or kept very near for its lightness, strength, and whipping ability. Even as adults, her children would stop in their tracks with one look from her or wave of her varita. She often proudly reminisced how as a young mother she was able to discipline and keep her 10 children in line and, although some of her children will deny it, how she could still discipline them as adults if she had to.
Maria del Rosario Cortez was known as “Mom, Amá, and Señora” by her children and “Grandma" and "Wela" by her grandchildren, as well as “Wila” by one particular granddaughter. Although she seldom smiled, when she did, it was stunning and usually for her grandchildren. She loved to dance her grandchildren as babies and dance with them as toddlers. She also gave her grandchildren coffee when their parents were not looking. She welcomed everyone and all, and she readily offered all who visited her food and her homemade tortillas de harina. She also lovingly made menudo for special occasions, as well as buñuelos and tamales every New Years, which made it extremely difficult to buy tamales or menudo anywhere else because they were never as good anywhere else. Everywhere she went, she made friends, and people gravitated towards her, going as far as to call her “Mom” and “Grandmother” too. She used to proudly claim that she had children and grandchildren EVERYWHERE.
Maria del Rosario Cortez was amazingly both soft and hard, had a laugh which was musical and contagious, and after raising 10 fine children, developed a practical wisdom that can only come from years and years of experience. She was a queen of queens and her presence on this earth will be greatly missed by all those who were lucky enough to have been a part of her grand family and fortunate enough to have known the beauty who was Maria del Rosario Cortez. Her legacy lives on through her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who carry forward her spirit of love and togetherness.
