Jose Anselmo Guerra, Sr

Jose Anselmo Guerra, Sr., affectionately known as “Joe”, of San Benito, Texas, our beloved patriarch, passed away on Saturday morning, January 18, 2025, in Harlingen, Texas. He was 94 years old. 

Jose was born in San Benito, Texas, on April 21, 1930, to Maria Guerra and William Thomas Estes. Growing up in San Benito, he told us stories about his adventures with his brother and friends, playing baseball, chasing the train down the tracks, and swimming in the watering hole known as “Las Burras”. In 1947, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served until 1950 when he married his first wife, Guadalupe “Lupita” Coronado Guerra of Brownsville, Texas. They lived in Brownsville for 50 years until the time of her death in July of 2000 at the age of 72.

Under the GI bill, Jose was able to complete his high school education. As a newlywed, he worked for Aldridge Washmon Company in Brownsville as a parts man and had many fond memories of his friends and his life during that time. In 1963, he moved his family to Los Angeles, California, where his mother, stepfather and his other siblings lived. He secured a job with Admiral Corporation, a major appliance company, where he served in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector for Admiral, in the LA and Hollywood area. He told us stories about going to fix a refrigerator at Bette Davis’s house and visiting other famous places in his line of work during this time. After 3 years, he brought his family back to Brownsville and worked at Sears as a serviceman. He decided he needed to further his education to provide for his growing family. He attended Texas Southmost College and Texas A&M University, where he earned his degree and taught at Brownsville High School which subsequently became Homer Hanna High school for 25 years and also taught night school at Texas Southmost College for 10 years. 

When Jose brought his family back to Brownsville from Los Angeles, he felt a calling to serve God and spent a week with his young son Joey at the Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine where he contemplated the direction that his life would take and look to God for direction. Jose began serving as a lay minister at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Brownsville, joining the Cursillo movement. In the late 1970’s he was accepted into the first Deaconate program for the Diocese of Brownsville preparing for his ordination with training and studies which included obtaining a Certificate in Theology and Ministries from Loyola University. Jose was ordained a Catholic Deacon in 1980 and served many parishes throughout the Valley, including our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, both in Brownsville, Texas. He also served at St. Ignatius in El Ranchito, Texas, Sacred Heart Mission in Las Rusias, Texas, Our Lady of Lourdes Mission in La Paloma, Texas, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Port Isabel, Texas, and finally at St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Rio Hondo, Texas, where he retired at the age of 83 in 2013.

Jose visited the Cameron County Jail and the Detention Center accompanied by the different priests he worked with, preaching the Word of God and visiting with prisoners and the detained. He visited the sick and dying in their homes and hospitals; he visited those that were troubled, grieving, anguished, and those trying to get back to God. He performed, within the scope of his deaconship, many baptisms, many funerals, and many weddings. Through his efforts many people of all ages were converted to Christ and began to serve the Lord. Many became deacons like himself and served the Lord in their own capacity. 

Jose was very talented at singing, playing the guitar, and playing the accordion. He loved El Trio Los Panchos and sang many beautiful Mexican romantic ballads from the Golden era of the thirties, forties, and fifties. He also sang very silly songs which he still sang in the last months of his life. He was also a very funny man that could make everybody laugh. We will never forget our sitting around the dining table at night, talking, joking, laughing, discussing deeply spiritual matters, and singing. These are just a few of the most beautiful, unforgettable moments with him which we had as a family.

Jose was an avid fisherman in his younger days and loved fishing at the river, the ship channel, and Boca Chica beach. He showed us how to bait a hook with live bait, how to throw the net to catch bait, and how to cast a fishing rod. He showed us the location of certain stars at night when we camped out at the beach and told us many stories of his fishing adventures as a young man. He educated us about the different types of fish that could be caught in our area and the best times for catching these fish. He told us of comets and shooting stars in the night sky he saw while fishing which he described as we listened with awe. 

More than anything, more than any of his efforts and accomplishments, he was a very loving father and a very generous man who found God’s love in his mid-thirties and committed himself to serving the Lord for the rest of his life. He gave away cars, musical instruments, stoves, refrigerators, air conditioners, and money. Anything he could give to someone in need, especially his children, he would certainly do so. But mostly, he gave us his love and his time and his care on such a grand scale that it would be impossible to measure. His love and his care knew no bounds. His ability to say he was sorry and his ability to forgive had no bounds. 

In his last moments, when he could barely speak, he would still let us know how much he loved us. 

He lives in our hearts forever. He will never be forgotten. It would be impossible to do that; we would never want to live without his memory. He showed us the way to a good life, a life pleasing to God, and we will follow that way. 

Jose is preceded in death by his loving wife of 50 years, Guadalupe (Lupita) Coronado Guerra, a son, Jose Anselmo Guerra, Jr., and two daughters, Blanca Estela Guerra and Maria del Carmen Guerra Najera. He is also preceded in death by his mother, Maria Guerra, his father, William T. Estes, his stepfather Eulalio Reyna, a brother, Benito Guerra, two sisters, Basilia Reyna and Magdalena Leal. He is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Juanita Galvan Guerra, his beloved son-in-law (widower of Carmen Najera) Desiderio Najera Sr., his beloved daughter-in-law, Isabel Rodriguez (widow of Jose Anselmo Guerra, Jr.), his children Maria Teresa (Tita) Aguirre (Tony), David Felipe Guerra (Sylvia), Carlos Andres Guerra (Yvonne), Rita Ann Andarza (Joaquin), Amanda Alicia Maldonado (Gerardo), and Juan Gerardo Guerra, 21 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, 6 great-great grandchildren, and a brother, Juan Reyna. He is also survived by Juanita’s children whom he loved, Sylvia Olvera (Miguel), Romeo Garza, Jr. (Nora), Judge David Garza (Marisela), Diana Ramirez (Ruben), Reynaldo Garza, and Nelda Garza.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home. A recitation of the Rosary will begin at 7:00 p.m. in San Benito. A funeral mass will be held the next day, Thursday, January 23, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in San Benito with interment at Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Brownsville, Texas. 

Pallbearers include David F. Guerra, Carlos Andres Guerra, Juan Gerardo Guerra, Tony Aguirre, Joaquin Andarza, and Gerardo Maldonado. 

Special thanks to Janice, the owner of Angel Care Haven, and her staff: Maggie, Yami, Enedina, Audrie, Krystal, Kelia, Hope, and Maria. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the special care and love you gave to Jose. You were a great blessing and comfort to him, and he loved all of you very much.