Julia C Guajardo

Elsa- Julia C. Guajardo, 85, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at her residence surrounded by her family and loved ones. She leaves a legacy of love and purpose--an enormous contribution to her family and her community.

Julia was born May 1934 en el Rancho los Ozunas in the state of Tamaulipas. The Ozuna name came from a group of brothers who squatted the land during the Mexican Revolution.

Julia’s parents were U.S. citizens. Her mother, Agueda, and her father, Federico, hailed from El Capote Ranch, a historic ranch south of Pharr, on the banks of the Rio Grande. Federico was a rancher and an entrepreneur who hustled during the age of Prohibition. Family stories point to an act of violence as the push factor that forced the family into Mexico, and into the ranch that had been occupied by the Ozuna band. Agueda ran the family, and gave birth to Julia in a tenuous, contested, and yet beautiful environment.

She met Jose Angel Guajardo, a wide-eyed young man from el Rancho La Alameda en el Municipio Dr. Coss in the state of Nuevo Leon. Their fateful meeting occurred in 1957 in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, while Jose Angel looked after his ailing mother, Virginia. Their meeting sparked a love affair that lasted until the day Jose Angel died in 2013. Julia’s devotion to Angel endured until her last breath.

They married on the 4th of July in 1959, and lived a glorious life. They raised four boys in Rio Bravo and in Elsa, Texas. They were intensely proud of their kids, and their kids were in deep love with their parents. Julia raised them with virtue, love, tenderness, and by offering a sense of humor that became a guidepost for life.

Julia was loving, above all. She was giving and deeply spiritual, and lived for everyone else. Selflessness defined her personality, character, and sense of being. It was her decision to be like this.

Julia is preceded in death by her parents (Federico and Agueda Cantu), her husband Jose Angel Guajardo, numerous siblings, and her grandson Juan Pablo.

She is survived by her sons: Juan Jose (Sylvia Villarreal), their firstborn who blazed a veritable trail, as he graduated from Edcouch Elsa High School, Pan American University, and then became a teacher, principal, and a role model to his younger brothers. Dr. Miguel Angel (Joyce Arroyo) was born next; Miguel is an accomplished professor at Texas State University and in local communities. He was followed by Dr. Francisco Guajardo (Yvonne Cárdenas), the CEO of the Museum of South Texas History. El coyotito is Luis Guajardo (Angela Ellard), the chronicler of family stories and pictures.

Julia also had 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She enjoyed her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren more than anything else in life. She lived for her babies. That was her mantra. She was the quintessential source of wisdom and power as loving and caring nurturer.

Julia lived for others. Era mujer simple, honrada y de amor en un mundo complicado.

Visitation for Mrs. Julia C. Guajardo will be on Friday, January 24, 2020, from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm with a Holy Rosary at 7:00 pm at Salinas Funeral Home- Chapel of the Angels. Visitation will continue on Saturday from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Salinas Funeral Home- Chapel of the Angels. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 12 noon at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Elsa, officiated by Julia's nephew, Father Jesus Paredes. Interment will follow at Highland Memorial Park in Weslaco.

Funeral Services have been entrusted to Salinas Funeral Home of Elsa.