Celia O. Barrera

Celia Ovalle Barrera, 90, passed peacefully in her sleep Sunday, Oct. 13, just 8 days shy of her 91st birthday. Celia was born Oct. 21, 1928 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to Zacarias Ovalle and Isabel Torres.
Known as Momo to her grandkids, Celia devoted much of her life to her family and to helping her husband, Ruben, build his upholstery and decorating business.
The two met while working at the Ankora Decorating Studio in Monterrey. While she initially rebuffed his advances – calling him “cat eyes” – he eventually wore her down and the two were married Jan. 9, 1954. Their marriage endured until he passed in 2012.
She and Ruben built a life together, first in Monterrey, then Nuevo Laredo before immigrating to the United States to make a better life for their five children. In September 1969, one year after Ruben immigrated, Celia and the children joined him in Corpus Christi.
Celia had a passion for music and dancing. Family reunions typically included duets by Ruben and Celia. As a young woman, Celia loved to sew and made many of her own clothes – often without a pattern and usually in a matter of hours.
Her faith was her rock and she never left home without thanking her Lord and asking for guidance and protection. She never met a stranger and no one ever left her home hungry. In fact, she often took care of the less fortunate with a warm meal. While dementia ravaged much of her memory in her later years, Celia held on to her wry sense of humor, which came out in those rare lucid moments.
Celia and Ruben married Catholic, but later joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church, where he was a deacon and she a deaconess.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ruben; daughter Myriam and son, Ruben Jr.
She leaves behind one sister, Hortensia “Tencha” Tijerina, two brothers, Cesar and Miguel Ovalle, two daughters, Alma L. Riojas and Ana Barrera Waggoner (Steve) and one son, Pablo Z. Barrera, 11 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Seaside Funeral Home Chapel, with a remembrance service at 7 p.m. to allow for family and friends to share their memories. A Funeral service will be held Friday, Oct. 18, at 10 a.m. at Seaside Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.
 

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