Celia Leal Aguilar

Our dear and devout Celia Leal Aguilar, age 107, peacefully entered into Heaven on November 5, 2022 at her home in Houston, Texas.

Celia was born on October 15, 1915 in Kingsville, Texas to a loving family. She remembered a happy childhood with her brothers and sisters. One of her fonder memories included the days when she delivered lunch pails to her family at her father’s ice company. Her older brother Rodolfo would lift her up to ring the bell, letting the small town know that it was time for lunch. 
 
The family eventually moved to Rio Grande City where she worked at Hinojosa Department Store after high school. In the early 1940s, Celia traveled to New York City to join her husband Eulalio Aguilar at Mitchel Army Air Corps Base during World War II. Later, while Eulalio worked as a surveyor in Venezuela, she raised their ten children in Rio Grande City and instilled in them the importance of education, Catholicism, perseverance, and family.
 
Celia lived during a period in history marked with the most profound and pivotal changes around the world. In her own life, she experienced many joys as well as challenges, but she always showed grace and strength. When she drove her young children to visit her parents in Brownsville, she was often the only woman on the road for much of the drive. Celia was always unstoppable. She was the foundation of her loving family through the years. In her youth, she received two great gifts that she held onto all of her life: resilience and peace through prayer. If you took some time in the early morning or the evening to close your eyes in prayer, chances are you would be praying with her.

Later in life, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of traveling through Europe where she learned about the rich history and culture of different countries. In Celia’s final years, over a hundred years of memories of loved ones, living and lost, blessed her mind as she sat in her kitchen to enjoy her postre and a hot cup of coffee while looking at her colorful garden.
 
Celia carried a kind of magic that we all felt when she was near. She will be remembered as having a peaceful heart, curious mind, strong will, and a life full of grace. 

Celia is preceded in death by her parents Guadalupe Leal and Olavia Carrera Leal, her brothers and sisters Procopio Leal, Rodolfo Leal, Anita L Trigo, Raul Leal, Margarita L Smyth, and Baldemar Leal, her husband Eulalio Aguilar, her infant daughter Diana Maria, and her youngest son Wilfrido. She is survived by her remaining 8 children Alfredo Baldemar Aguilar, Elias Aguilar Sr., Diana Peguero, Eulalio Aguilar Jr. (Arabela), Raul Alfonso Aguilar (Cynthia), Carlos Cesar Aguilar (Marialinda), Abel Aguilar, and Maria Cecilia Aguilar. Also her 19 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren,
and 3 great-great-grandchildren. 

Visitation will begin at 4:00 p.m. followed by the Rosary at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 11 at Sanchez Funeral Home in Rio Grande City, Texas. Funeral Mass will be at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 10:00 a.m on Saturday, November 12. Burial will follow afterwards at Rio Grande City Cemetery.

HOUSTON~ CELIA AGUILAR WAS CALLED TO THE LORD ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 05, 2022, MAY SHE REST IN PEACE. SANCHEZ FUNERAL HOME OF RIO GRANDE CITY WILL BE TAKING CARE OF HER FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.