Gregoria Garza Cantu

Gregoria Garza Cantú, 89, of Brownsville, passed away on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at her residence in Brownsville.

She was “Mom” to three generations of her family, and she was “Goya” to the many who knew her personally. The Garza and Cantú families are saddened to announce the passing of Gregoria Garza Cantú, 89, a life-long resident of Brownsville, Texas. The first in her family to attend college, she earned a BA and MA degrees from UT-RGV. She taught at Webb Elementary, then transferred to Longoria Elementary School and advanced in her career under principals Miss Rosa del Castillo and Mrs. Sharon Moore. She retired at the rank of assistant principal. Gregoria inspired her six children to finish college.
She also was active at Immaculate Conception Cathedral where she volunteered as a Catechism teacher for two decades, teaching and preparing neighborhood children for their First Communion.

Gregoria is preceded in death by her husband, Federico Cantú, Sr. (2013); her infant son, Jaime G. Cantú (1959); son, Arthur D. Cantú (2017); parents, Carolina and Federico Garza; brother, George Garza, and sisters, Esther Chavez and Guadalupe Villarreal.

She is survived by her children: Norma V. Cantú, Federico Cantú, Jr. (Laura), Olga E. Rowehl, Judith D. Rodriguez (Johnny†), Esmi Zuniga (Arthur ) and Nora “Bela” Arita. Her grandchildren are Federico Cantú, III, Laura Baysinger (Duane), Deborah Hawkins (Sean), Jill Macko (Peter), Pamela Tibbits (Joshua), Carol “Wolfy” Arita, and James Arita (Miranda). Great-grandchildren are Phoenix Cantú, Tony Cantú, Emily Cantú, Elena Baysinger, Marcus Baysinger, and Luke Macko. She will be missed by her extended family.

Gregoria Cantú enjoyed growing beautiful flowers, especially zinnias, larkspurs and pentas.

The pallbearers will be James Arita, Luciano Chavez, Jr., Jonathan Jones II, Steve Brewer, Ed Tacke, Peter Macko, and Federico Cantú, III.

The family would like to thank everyone who reached out to Gregoria during her last years. We give special thanks to family friends, Mari de Leon, Rosa Montoya, Josie Miles and Evelyn Robles, who helped care for Gregoria. We also thank Caring Hands hospice staff.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm, with a Rosary at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 8th, 2022, at Garza Memorial Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be held at 9:00 am on Friday, December 9th, 2022, at Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Committal will follow at Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens.

You may go online at garzamemorialfh.com to view the obituary and sign the guestbook.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the Garza Memorial Funeral Home in Brownsville (956) 542-5511

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gregoria Garza Cantu, please visit our floral store.