Flavia Aldrete Figueroa, a devoted Catholic, passed away peacefully on January 22, 2022, surrounded by members of her loving family in San Antonio, Texas. She reached the age of 103 years and ten months. She was born March 17, 1918, in Del Rio, Texas to Felipe Alderete and Dolores P Alderete, naturalized citizens who immigrated from Mexico.
One of eleven children, she grew up in the Chihuahua district of Del Rio and attended Garfield Elementary school before going to work to help support the family. All eleven children, Esperanza, Enriqueta, Odilia, Flavia, Heriberto, Cristobal, Felipe, Cecilia, Lydia, Jorge and Dolores, had long and productive lives.
Flavia is preceded in death by her husband, Armando Garza Figueroa, nine of her ten siblings, and two of her six grandchildren, Misty Dixon and Adam Figueroa.
She loved growing up in Del Rio, though life was hard in those early 20th century times. She was a lively young girl who loved to play jacks and soar high on the playground swings. In such a large family, everyone was assigned a household job. Flavia’s was to clean the house, mop and wax the floors, and to ensure all was in good order. She embraced this job and adopted it for her entire life, setting strict standards for herself and her own family. Since her childhood home was relatively small for the burgeoning family, the girls slept sideways on the beds all in a row.
As a teenager, Flavia earned 25 cents a day at her first job in a Del Rio photography studio, and while giving most of it to her mother in support of the family, managed to save enough to keep herself well-attired, in keeping with her fastidious sense of fashion and prideful appearance. Early on, she learned to model good posture, cleanliness, exceptional dress, and a smiling countenance.
While attending dances near the Brown Plaza, she met the dashing Armando Figueroa, himself along with his family, naturalized citizens who immigrated from Mexico. They courted in their beloved hometown before marrying on January 15, 1939, in Del Rio. While driving by car to their honeymoon location, a mischievous friend of Armando’s hid himself in the trunk of their car. Discovered while unpacking at the honeymoon location, the friend was unceremoniously disgorged from the vehicle and left to make his own way back to Del Rio.
The couple lived with his parents and sisters in a small home on Garza Street right after their wedding. All the sisters had strict meal responsibilities for Armando and his brothers and when Flavia insisted on cooking for her new husband, a small spat ensued with one sister (Imagine two ladies pulling back and forth with a frying pan). Flavia was not one to back down when she knew she was in the right. Shortly thereafter, Flavia and Armando moved into their own place nearby.
Flavia and Armando carved out an entrepreneurial bent that took them to Sonora and then San Angelo, where they owned and operated several businesses, to include a corner grocery store, a trampoline center, real estate, and juke boxes. Before they married, Armando told Flavia that no wife of his would ever work for a living. He would joke that, immediately after their marriage and as a direct result of their entrepreneurial enterprises, she worked every day of her life. When Armando was elected as the first Mexican American City Commissioner of San Angelo, she redoubled her time and effort managing the businesses. Ultimately, they moved back to Del Rio for business and family reasons. They were married for 54 years until Armando’s death in 1993. Flavia remained in her Del Rio house until 2012 when she moved to live with older daughter Maria in San Antonio.
The couple raised their three children (Maria Edna, Wilma, Francisco) in San Angelo. Stressing education to her children, all three graduated from San Angelo Central High School and from universities across the country. Flavia reviewed all the report cards and was very proud when they achieved the high expectations set for them. She was active in numerous social groups in San Angelo and Del Rio and was Godmother, Madrina, and Comadre to dozens of family members and friends all over the U.S. Birthday clubs, dear neighbors, and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas kept her deep in friendships and conversation.
Flavia is survived by her three children and their families, younger sister Maria Lydia Soltesz and her family, granddaughter Maria Elena Bellwood and her family, grandsons Matthew Dixon and his family, Derek Figueroa and his family, Christopher Weaver, ten great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
All will remember Flavia’s endearing smile, her erect posture, her grace under pressure and adversity, and the kindness that defined her personality. Every night, she thanked her daughters for everything they did for her. She was a wonderful wife and mother, sister and daughter, grandmother, and left a legacy that touched all those who encountered her.
Arrangements are being handled by Sunset Memorial Oaks Funeral Home in Del Rio. An evening Rosary will be conducted there on Feb 25, 2022, with a Catholic Mass and Graveside Service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Sunset Memorial Oaks Cemetery, respectively, on Saturday, Feb 26, 2022, beginning at 10 AM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Flavia Figueroa Memorial, in care of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, St. Joan of Arc #1224, PO Box 1926, Del Rio, Texas 78841-1926.
