Rafael Garza

Rafael Garza, 79, entered into eternal rest on July 21, 2024 at the South

Texas Health System Hospital in McAllen. He was born on February 4,

1945, in Alamo, Texas. He is preceded in death by his wife Doris Felsch

Garza, his parents Jose Luz Garza and Celedonia C. Garza, and his

grandparents Sabino M. Cardenas and Seferina S. Cardenas. Rafael is

survived by his 4 children: Joerg K. Felsch, Sabine D. Castillo, René R.

Garza and Angela Sabine Lorenzen; four (4) brothers: Jose Luz Garza

Jr., Matias Garza, Juan Garza, Gilberto Garza and one (1) sister, Julie

Moncivais; eleven (11) grandchildren and eight (8) great-grandchildren.

Rafael joined the United States Army at the age of 17. He served a total

of 20 years, of which eleven (11) were assignments in Germany. From

1962-1963 he served as a medic with the 809 th Engineer Battalion in

Thailand. In 1965 he volunteered for service in Vietnam and worked as a

surgical technician with the 2 nd Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH)

which provided medical/surgical support to the 1 st Air Cavalry Mobile

Division. In 1969-1970 he volunteered for an assignment in Korea and

was assigned to the Korean DMZ as a combat medic with the 2 nd

Infantry Division. His last military assignment, 1978-1982, was at

William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas, where he

served as an assistant director to the senior Chief of the Department of

Nursing.

After 20 years of military service, he retired with the rank of Master

Sergeant. Before he retired in 1982, he had earned an undergraduate

degree in social psychology from Park University and a master’s degree

in counseling/management from Webster University. Upon retirement

from the United States Army in 1982, he went on to earn an additional

master’s degree in education and a school superintendency certification

from Pan American University, now known as UTRGV.

He worked with the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District

(PSJA) from 1983-2003. His last eight years with PSJA was as a school

principal at North Alamo Elementary in Alamo. Under his leadership,

the school earned “Exemplary” ratings from the Texas Education

Agency for the last seven consecutive years of his tenure as school

Principal. He credited this achievement to the leadership values learned

in the United States Army, which is to “Support and Protect” those

assigned to you.

Often, he would acknowledge to his colleagues, “It was tough growing

up, but with the help of my Mom’s prayers and my wife, Doris, standing

by my side throughout my Army career, I prevailed. In retrospect, I

knew Jesus Christ was guiding me in every moment of my life. I did my

best to serve others, and the day I am called home I pray that my Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ will say, ‘Welcome home Rafael. I am proud of

you.’”

A service will be held at Memorial Funeral Home of San Juan on

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 10:00AM, visitation will begin at 9:00AM.

A graveside service will follow at Roselawn Cemetery in McAllen,

Texas at approximately 11:00AM. He will be laid to rest next to the love

of his life, Doris. Pastor Juan Garza, his brother, will be conducting the

service.