Englantina "Tina" Gonzales

ENGLANTINA GONZALES

MCALLEN- It is with grateful hearts we celebrate the life of Englantina “Tina” Gonzales at the age of 85. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, daughter, and friend. 

Tina is preceded in death by her loving parents, Simon Navarro and Petra Salinas Navarro, a sister, Esther Elia Rocha (Cresencio). 

Tina’s life revolved around her faith, her family, and her career. 

Tina was a parishioner of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in McAllen, Texas since the early 1960s. For many years she served as a Eucharistic minister, visited families that needed assistance, and participated in an ACTS retreat. For 17 years, she was also a member of the Catholic Daughters of The Americas. Despite her obligations to her family, the church and her community, she never faltered to honor our Blessed Mother by praying the rosary three times a day. 

She was kind, selfless, pure of heart, compassionate, and always willing to give without anything in return. These admirable qualities did not stop with her family but extended to her enthusiasm for teaching and her commitment to her students. Tina began her teaching career in 1962 at St. Joseph Catholic School in Edinburg, Texas. Then, taught for over 32 years at Wilson Elementary School in McAllen, Texas. After retirement, from 1995 to 2018, 23 years, she was a permanent substitute for ECISD, primarily at Edinburg High School, then at Robert Vela High School. 

For 55 years, she derived great joy from the daily interactions with the students she met in her classroom and the lasting friendships she made with the staff at each of the schools she serviced.  

Tina was an active member of the Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority for 40 years and served as the Chaplin where she opened the meetings with an invocation. She took great pride in recruiting teachers to join the sorority and she enjoyed socializing with the ladies.  

She is survived in death by her loving husband Ruben Gonzales and her five children, Sandra Sue Cantu (Joey), Litsa Loraine (Lori) Galvan (Samuel), Eric Christopher Gonzales, Carla Melissa Rodriguez (Omar), and Belinda Adele Lizcano (Robert). She was also blessed to share in the lives of her five grandchildren, Robert Andrew Lizcano, Lauren Elise Galvan, Megan Alyssa Lizcano, Dante Alexander Rodriguez and Derek Aidan Rodriguez. Her brother, Noe Navarro and his wife Gloria reside in San Antonio, Texas. She adored all her nieces and nephews, loved them as her own children, and prayed for them daily. 

Visitation and Wake is scheduled at 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a 7 p.m. Rosary on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at Legacy Chapels 4610 South Jackson Road in Edinburg. Funeral mass will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, December 15, 2022, at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in McAllen. Interment will follow at Valley Memorial Gardens in Mission.

Funeral services are under the direction of Legacy Chapels in Edinburg.