Viola Hobratsch went home to our Lord and Savior on the morning of July 8, 2018, at the age of 83. She was born on March 10, 1935, in Georgetown, Texas, to August and Lydia (Bethke) Domel, and baptized on March 17, 1935, at Zion Lutheran Church in Walburg, Texas, where she was also confirmed in 1949. Viola married Raymond Hobratsch on July 21, 1957, at Zion Lutheran, and they were blessed with four daughters, Geraine, Sheila, Sandra, and Barbara.
Viola’s first job was picking cotton in the Texas heat with her parents and brother Marvin. As an adult she worked as a candy-striper in an Austin hospital until she got married and moved to Houston. She was a stay-at-home mom through most of her girls’ elementary school years, and then started working as a cook for the Houston Independent School District. After being moved around to various schools she finally settled in at Scarborough High School, where she was known as the “cinnamon roll lady.” In her retirement she was able to babysit her grandchildren Lauren, Karin, Kirstie and Taylor before they entered preschool. Then she and Ray moved back to the country on her family’s farm in Hutto, where they raised goats, hens, and cows, and also helped care for her aging parents. After 22 years, Viola and Ray headed back to Houston in February 2018 to be close to their daughters’ families. She taught her grandkids how to sew, and say strange German phrases. She loved to play dominoes with friends and family, and SHE GAVE THE BEST HUGS!
Viola was very active in her faith. While at Our Savior Lutheran in Houston, she was a member of the LWML Night Circle, and worked very hard at the annual Turkey Supper and Craft Bazaar. She sang in the choir, served in the Altar Guild, volunteered as a Sunday School teacher, and in the church office assembling bulletins and Braille books, and also volunteered at a local thrift store. At Zion Lutheran in Walburg, Viola embroidered beautiful baptismal napkins as a memento for those baptized.
Viola was preceded in death by her parents August and Lydia Domel.
She is survived by her loving husband Raymond; children Geraine (Manuel) Zamora, Sheila (Charles) Kerns, Sandra (Ricky) Leger, and Barbara (Dean) Mushinski; grandchildren: Lauren (John) Shade, Karin, Matthew (Nicole), and Hannah Zamora, Kirstie, Taylor (fiancé Lydia), Elyssa and Meghan Mushinski; great-granddaughter Elizabeth Shade, and soon-to-be-born great-grandson John Shade IV; brother Marvin (Elsie) Domel, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held at Heights Funeral Home, 1317 Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77008, on Tuesday, July 10, from 5:00-8:00 PM. The funeral service will be on Wednesday, at 1:00 PM, at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5000 W. Tidwell Rd, Houston, TX 77091. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Garden of Memories Cemetery, 1101 Antoine Dr, Houston, TX 77055. Afterwards, a reception will be held in the Bible Class Room at Our Savior Lutheran Church.
In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to: Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5000 W. Tidwell, Houston, TX 77091 Zion Lutheran Church, 6001 FM 1105, Georgetown, TX 78626
