Matilde "Tillie" Farias Rodriguez

Matilde Farias Rodriguez, more commonly called ‘Tillie’ by those who knew and loved her.

Of course, right after the name Tillie you might also see … the daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, girlfriend, wife, mother, godmother, friend, business owner and so much more. All these wonderful roles that she willingly accepted and lived out so well, certainly left a mark in the lives of those she touched.

There was plenty going on in 1933, California was beginning construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, and on the other side of the world, a man named Adolf Hitler was coming in to power. But in the Great State of Texas, not far from the Guadalupe River, the best news of all came to Enemencio and Atiliana Farias. A baby girl was added to their family out in Victoria, County, Texas! We can imagine her father, ’Mencho’, a sharecropper originally from San Diego, Texas, running in from the fields to receive his newborn daughter.

The Farias family was large and busy. Big sister Erlinda would iron and cook. Cidona, Martina and Katy were usually in the fields. Mary filled in everywhere she was able. Johnny and Lou were young and did what they could in the fields of cotton and corn. I recall Tillie telling me how she and little Mencho caught lizards and how she would cry if the poor critters died. There was always plenty to eat at the big table with benches, the main feature in that small one-bedroom house. There were two beds back then and Tillie remembered how they would hop in together and fall asleep ‘like a bundle of tamales’! ‘Mama would wrap our feet with warm rags in the winter, and in the Summertime I would sleep by the screen door to get a cool breeze. Sometimes, I would sleep in the cotton trailer with a blanket, bugs and all!’ She didn’t care for school at all and I’ve been told that after moving to Water St, she was dragged kicking and crying all the way to Mitchell Elementary. By that time Erlinda, Martina and Mary were working at the Laundry.

Living nearby in an adjacent neighborhood, there happened to be a young man who caught her eye. Joe Rodriguez was his name and the small pebbles thrown at her bedroom window and secret rendezvous turned into a wedding with all the trimmings. Eventually saying goodbye to their old friends and their hometown, they ended up in Houston to begin their new life. Some friends from back home eventually followed seeking jobs and opportunities too. Construction work, electrical and plumbing, delivery work, laundry service, secretarial work, business proprietorship… and in between, Kids! David was the First born, Darrell the Middle child and finally Derrick. All the ups and downs and joys and pains of life came by. Tillie and Joe met them with strength and grace, holding their family together through it all. There were daughters in law added to the mix, even a niece or two, wonderful births of grandchildren and godchildren and deaths of course of family, old friends and neighbors; but after work there was ‘play’. Dances at Toro de Oro, fun at the bowling alley, the boys’ high school friends and girlfriends, bands and music, beach time, fishing, boating, birthday parties, egg hunts, church and choir at St Jerome and celebrations catered by Tillies excellent cooking. Homemade tortillas that awed a young New Yorker, Tamales at Christmas and her secret recipe of Cherry Coke Salad! A very full and Blessed Life!

I’m sure it was difficult over the many years to lose her family members one by one. First her mother in 1979 followed by her father who had moved to Victoria and was at one time a special deputy for the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office, retired, and member of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. Until just recently, all her siblings have been laid to rest except for Lou. Most difficult of all, losing her Middle son Darrell to illness. Then a second blow losing the Love of her Life, Joe! With that giant piece of her gone ahead, another chapter of her life began, but that too landed another blow with the loss her baby boy, Derrick to an accident. Like the trooper of a lady that she was, she carried on with dignity for her son Davey and the grandchildren, godchildren, friends and family still here.

She made new friends where she went and her kindness and friendliness and straight forward ways brought her smiles and laughs and persons who to this day are here, lamenting her passing; they are the family and friends that stepped up to fill in the gap for her care, to take the time to visit and raise her spirits. They are also the strangers that went from professional caregivers to loving friends, some of them here today and I thank God so much for them because they did not have to love her – but they did! Even in the last few days of her life, with her Last Rites given and her head and hand anointed with oil as she clutched her rosary, as she was approaching that ‘in-between’ time, drifting between Heaven and earth, she was calm and receptive to those who came to see her in her final moments. My Precious Tillie, we will see you again.

Thank you Memorial Hermann Hospice for your excellent care and kindness to Tillie and to our family. Also to Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville Texas, who brought her back from the brink of death to pass peacefully at home with family. Thank you St Jerome Catholic Church, the clergy and the members who have prayed diligently for Tillie. These institutions have Charitable entities that would gladly make good use of donations, monetary or in kind. And thank you so much Waltrip Funeral Directors, Steve Yancey and staff for your kind, compassionate and sincere attention to our family for all these years and for your continued care for our ’Tillie’.

For those wishing to attend, the Rosary will be recited at 5:00pm, followed by a visitation with the family from 5:30 until 7:00pm on Monday, June 7 at Waltrip Funeral Directors, 1415 Campbell Road in Houston, where funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, June 8. The Rite of Committal will follow at Houston National Cemetery.