Marina G. Rocha

The final wave of the long goodbye was hailed on our beautiful mother, Marina Gonzales Rocha, on February 17th, 2020. Her twenty-year journey with Alzheimer’s disease ended peacefully with her five adult children comforting her in the bed she lay with love, music, and touch. Her family is profoundly grateful, having fulfilled a promise to their father, Mateo (who died in 2007), to keep his beloved Marina in her home until the end.

Marina was born on July 10th, 1943 in La Feria, TX, to Celia Vega. Her father was Martin Gonzales. Due to unknown circumstances, both parents disappeared from her life. She was raised in a household with second cousins Eva and Daniel Barron in Harlingen, TX. Marina’s elopement to Mateo Rocha on September 5, 1958 was her destiny. Together they had two children in the Harlingen area before Mateo’s National Guard unit was activated in 1961, after which they welcomed three more children.

In the early years of her military “career”, Marina lived in Louisiana, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Missouri. When the family moved to Germany, she enjoyed shopping for crystal, sightseeing, and German cooking. Upon returning stateside, Marina and family spent the next six years at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. She loved eating crabs, picking apples at Lohr’s Orchard, and volunteering at the post thrift shop. When Mateo served an unaccompanied tour at Johnston Atoll, Marina began her culinary vocation at a school cafeteria in Magnolia, MD. After Mateo’s retirement in Northeast El Paso, Marina continued her love of cooking and baking at Collins Elementary and Terrace Hills Middle School. Her final employment was with the State Supported Living Center on Delta Street, cooking for the residents in the cottages. Serving food was Marina’s way of serving love.

Her proudest accomplishment was her own family. She raised five children who all graduated from college. The light of her retirement was her three grandkids: Eric Anthony Villasana, Danielle Ortiz, and Eli Landen Ortiz. Sadly, it was during this happy time that signs of dementia appeared. However, we shall hold dear the mother we knew: the goodness and laughter, her love of Top 40 radio, finding estate sales, collecting and filling jukeboxes with her favorite 45s, and driving Corvettes.

We bestow everlasting thanks upon her Mexican caretakers who stayed by her bedside over the past ten years: Lenore, Maggie, Maria Elena, Sylvia, and Ramona. Much appreciation to our invisible workforce who provides the care and attention behind the doors of our homes. They are unsung heroes here on the border.

Those who carry on in her memory are: Matt Rocha (Becky), Janie Villasana (Joe), Norma Ortiz (Greg), Marnie Rocha (Jodi), and Bob Rocha. A family-led celebration of life for Marina Rocha will be held at 10am Saturday, February 29th, at Funeraria Del Angel Restlawn, 8817 Dyer St.