Janis M. McCrory De Lara

A Life Full of Song, Dance, and Love

Long-time King William resident and lover of music, dance, and her cherished family, Janis M. McCrory De Lara passed away on June 4, 2025, having just celebrated her 84th birthday on April 24.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jose Garcia De Lara; son, Robert Hoelscher; daughter, Anne Meggs; parents, Roy and Othella McCrory; uncle, L.A. Daniel and aunt, Maxye Daniel. Janis is survived by her daughter, Janis Catherine Garcia De Lara; brother, John McCrory, and sister, Jennifer Gunn; grandsons, Timothy Meggs, Michael Meggs, and Andrew Meggs; granddaughters, Leonor L. Garcia De Lara Rodriguez and Evelyn M. De Lara Ramos.

Janis obtained her master’s degree in music at UT Austin and was just a few hours away from her Doctorate in Music. She taught private voice and music theory in the Alamo Community Colleges, particularly Palo Alto College and St. Philip's College.

Janis, who for several years organized the Sunday King William concert series, was a professional opera singer, with a passion for music of all genres that she shared with her private voice lesson students. But her special love for tango music was evident in both the Piazolla-composed tango performances she shared with the San Antonio community and musicians, and tango dance that she shared with her late husband - architect, King William neighborhood advocate and tango dance instructor, Jose Garcia De Lara. They were passionate about tango - whether dancing in a formal hall, on the first floor of Liberty Bar to a pop-up tango band, or on the makeshift dance floor at an impromptu gathering at the former Acapulco Drive-In.

Janis and Jose were long-time doting parents to Catherine De Lara, (who, as an adult) with her partner Daniel, dutifully took care of her mother over the last decade as her dementia progressed. Janis had almost twenty heartwarming years full of wonder as grandmother to Lillianna and a few short months with her recently born granddaughter, Evie.

A Celebration of Life will take place on Sunday, October 26, 2025, from 4:00 - 8:00 PM at Casa Hernan Mexican Cantina, 411 East Cevallos Street, San Antonio, Texas. Feel free to R.S.V.P. with Catherine De Lara at (210)449-7477.

A church service will be held on Monday, October 27, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 315 East Pecan Street, San Antonio, Texas. Interment will follow in Mission Burial Park South, 1700 South East Military Drive, San Antonio, Texas.

For the many neighbors in King William who have shared the De Lara sense of passion for music, the next time your heart is swelled by a special piece of music, raise a toast to the De Laras!