Dora Garza Vargas

It took a very hard and fast acting disease like stage four colon cancer to beat her. She was no stranger to a good fight. At only eight years old, she raised three brothers and three sisters. She learned how to run a household, sew and beat the neighborhood boys whether it was a game of baseball or a game of marbles. Many tried stealing her favorite blue aggie. Instead, she walked away with pockets full of their marbles.

To provide more financial support for her family, Dora dropped out of high school and fought for her first full-time sewing job at the McNair plant in Brownsville, Texas. In order to get the job, the interviewer instructed her to complete a block puzzle to test her speed. The interviewer doubted her ability and explained how she would fail because she was “too big” to complete the test in a timely manner. Dora completed it fast enough to make the interviewer’s mouth drop. After Levi’s purchased the plant, Dora was promoted to supervisor. She ran a successful manufacturing line of 30 sewers for over 30 years.

The interviewer’s mouth remains on the floor.

Dora enjoyed retired life in Chandler, AZ for the past 22 years. She never married. “Why should I?” was her typical response to friends and family who kept asking her “such a question”. She is survived by her nieces, nephews, her sister Mary DeLeon and her daughter, Annabelle Garcia, who emulates her mother’s strength, stubbornness and fierce independence.

At Dora’s request, there will be no formal service. Instead, she wishes everyone to remember the wonderful memories they shared with joy, laughter and happiness. Remember the good times, remember the good stories and “move on”.

By the time this obituary is printed, Dora will have been promoted supervisor in Heaven and running her own line of angels. To those who dare to not follow her instructions: you wouldn’t want Dora to take your marbles and leave your mouth on the floor.