I thought I wanted to be a nun. My experience at the Lady of Our Lake Catholic high school in San Antonio Texas had left an indelible impression in my mind…self-sacrificing humble life-style was demonstrated daily by the nuns who taught me, fed me, mothered me during my boarding-school years of 9-12th grades. But I also had an innate drive to emulate my father, the brilliant doctor that he was…maybe I wanted to study medicine. I was good at languages having learned German, French, Spanish, English and Latin, if you count Latin as a language. But the real deciding factor was when my late husband, Carlos Romeo Garza, emphasis on the ‘Romeo’, turned my head in the direction of being a homemaker. Surprisingly, he was the one who taught me that the greatest lesson to be learned is ‘how to learn.’ He had an extraordinary way of making me feel all giddy and disease-stricken simultaneously. But when he compared my legs to those of Cyd Charisse, …well, my decision was made up…I wanted to be a dancer….no, not remotely. He encouraged me to be anything I wanted to be because I was smart, capable, and determined. So, I made the decision that if we were going to have lots of kids, I’d be a teacher. That’s not really how it happened, but ultimately, that is what happened. I graduated from Texas Women’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a certificate in education. I was taking graduate courses at the University of Texas at Austin when I met Carlos. After we married, I supported him through law school by teaching at the Austin School for the Deaf. I continued to teach in some capacity throughout the years, in church, at community college, adult ESL students, health-wellness and exercise. I even taught classes for Toastmistress. In fact, I have been a teacher for my entire life. And now that my life on earth has come to an end, I realize it was always God’s intent for me to be a teacher…to teach about Him. If you are fortunate enough to know any of my five kids, 13 grandchildren, or 11 greatgrandchildren, you can ask any of them what was the most important take away from my life…that toothpaste takes out most stains? Good guess but no…that would be that the stains of man can only be removed by the grace of God, His forgiveness and His acceptance…because He loves unconditionally, as we should. So, take away this message from my life…that you can have many goals in life, because you can learn anything and excel at it if you learn how-to-learn well…, but the most important goal to strive for is to learn about God, get to know Him because He will never forsake you and you can live forever with Him after this life on earth ends. Life with Him in heaven is forever. I hope to see you there…I’ll be the one with Cyd Charisse legs dancing with my Romeo…
A memorial service for Marlena will be held Saturday, February 5, 2022 at 2:00 PM at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, Texas 78660.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com for the Garza family.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18