Rachel Evelyn Staph

Rachel grew up in the small, rural southeast Texas town of Hamshire. She was 10 years old at the beginning of the Great Depression. By the time she was old enough for college, still during Depression years, her parents sacrificed to send her, and her sister Elaine, to what is now Texas Woman’s University, in Denton. She lived in a boarding house where some of the girls paid with produce from their farms. She obtained a BA in elementary education and hoped to teach art to children. Returning home, Rachel taught elementary school in the Hamshire-Fannett school district. During her summer breaks, she took classes in Austin at The University of Texas and earned a MA in elementary education. While in Austin, she met her future husband, Horace Staph, who was teaching in the UT School of Mechanical Engineering. After her marriage in 1950 she taught in Austin until they moved to Minneapolis, where she taught while Horace worked on his PhD. At the birth of her daughter, she took on the lifelong role of mother and homemaker. In 1955 they returned to Austin. After the birth of their sons, they moved to San Antonio for Horace’s job at Southwest Research Institute. In 1961 the move was made to the home that Rachel lived in until she died.

Rachel was an artist and enjoyed painting in watercolor, pastel, and oils as well as etching glass and creating banners for her church. She was a teacher at heart and led Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops for her children, taught Sunday school and later tutored students in reading at Leon Valley Elementary. She enjoyed her gardening and we all learned about Texas birds, flowers, and plants from our mother. She and Horace enjoyed retirement and took several trips to Europe, Africa, the former Soviet Union and sites around North America. For many years they were San Antonio Zoo members and San Antonio Symphony attendees. They were longtime, active members of St.Luke’s Lutheran Church and more recently Hope Lutheran Church. In recent years Alzheimer’s Disease took Rachel away from us.

Rachel was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Horace Eugene Staph, her parents, and her siblings: Ione (died at age 3), R. Lyon (died as infant), Elaine, Arthur Paul and Jerome. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Cathy (Stephen) Anderson, Dana (Linda) Staph, and Eric (Stephenie) Staph and grandchildren: Erika (Patrick) Mahoney, Ian (Samantha) Anderson, Rachel Marie (Colin) Busbee, Caleb Staph, Ryan Staph, Corey Staph, great grandsons Hudson Mahoney and Oliver Anderson, cousin Reed (Frances) Burgess, and numerous nieces and nephews. Rachel was blessed with loving caregivers Connie Patino, Ana Diaz, Stephanie Ramirez, the staff of Caring Senior Services of San Antonio, and Three Oaks Hospice.

A Memorial service will be held at Hope Lutheran Church, 5714 Callaghan Rd, 11am Saturday, 26 February 2022. A reception will follow the service and interment of ashes will be at Mission Park Cemetery Dominion

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Foundation.