Patricia Garza Almendarez

Patricia Garza Almendarez was born in Mission, Texas, to Tomasa and David Garza Sr. on March 17, 1963. After a 25-year battle with breast cancer she passed away on May 17, 2024. Patricia is preceded in passing by her father and her brother, David Garza Jr. She is survived by her mother; her loving and supportive husband of 30 years, James Almendarez, as well as their daughters, Jamie (Joe) Dominguez, Dr. Veronica (Jonathan) Gaspar, Aiisa Almendarez, and Maria Almendarez; her grandkids, Joe Dominguez, and Jolene Dominguez; her sisters, Veronica (Gualberto) Garza, and Susanna Gates; her brothers, Deacon Felipe (Cynde) Garza, Dario (Betty) Garza, and Fernando (Rachel) Garza; her sister-in-law, Pilar Garza, as well as many other close friends and family.
Shortly before Patricia's passing, she moved to San Antonio to be with her daughters and grandchildren. Prior to this, most of her time was spent in Mission. In her time there she was a very accomplished woman, graduating from UTPA with her bachelor's degree in accounting, having found herself working as an accountant for Zaragoza Hinojosa, CPA for the next 30 years. She was an ambassador for different American Cancer Society organizations like Voices of Hope, and Look Good Feel Good, even finding herself to be a calendar girl for Faithful Warriors in January 2024. Patricia received proclamations from the City, County, and State for her advocacy work which included lobbying for organizational funding for breast cancer research and development. Patricia's faith and involvement in the church carried her through many challenges in her life. She was a Eucharistic Minister, was on the finance committee at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Mission, and taught CCD classes. This wasn't her first run in with teaching though having taught at South Texas Community College before having her children.
Patricia was a very caring and loving woman to everyone she met. She was a social butterfly that never met a stranger in her life. She will be dearly missed by all who had the opportunity to meet her.
A special thanks to her oncology doctors for their extraordinary care and allowing us to share the past 25 years with her - Dr. Eugenio Galindo in McAllen for the past 25 years and Dr. Virginia Kaklamani in San Antonio for the past year.