"Lucille Lyons Cardenas"

Memorial service: 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19, in Moore Funeral Home Chapel. A traditional Catholic Funeral Mass will be held at noon Monday, Dec. 19, at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, 1200 S. Davis Drive, Arlington, with a rosary service at 11:30 a.m. Anyone is welcome to attend.

She was born Sept. 7, 1942, in New Haven, Conn., the daughter of William Patrick and Elizabeth Killeen Lyons. She married Gilberto M. Cardenas on Sept. 14, 1963, in New Haven. Lucille graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in education and English. After starting a family, she returned to school to earn her master's degree in counseling from Western Michigan University.

Her calling in life was to be a teacher. She had such passion for her job and such joy teaching students. She worked as an instructor at the English Language Institute at the University of Texas at Arlington up until October of this year, when her illness forced her to take some time off. As part of her UTA profile, she stated, "The most wonderful aspect of my job is that I have the opportunity of getting to know and working with students from around the world. I am incredibly fortunate to be able to learn so much from my students as they learn from me." She had worked at UTA for 15 years and prior to that, was a professor in the Intensive English Program at TCU in Fort Worth, where she was also an assistant dean of students. Throughout the years, Lucille and her husband often threw parties at their home for her international students, as well as the faculty members. She truly had an impact on the lives of many of her students who would keep in touch with her years later from the various countries where they lived.

Devoted to her husband of 48 years, she always referred to her spouse as the love of her life, and she was most proud of her three daughters and the close bond they all shared. When she was not grading papers or taking care of her husband, Lucille enjoyed reading, traveling, discussing politics and cooking for family and friends on special occasions. Always having a smile on her face, Lucille was the type of person who never met a stranger, and she had been a member of both St. Maria Goretti and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic churches.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, William Lyons; and sister, Joan Macauley.

Survivors: Husband, Gilberto M. Cardenas; daughter, Moira A. McIntyre; daughter and son-in-law, Lizabeth C. and Steven T. Franke; daughter, Kara L. Cardenas; and sisters, Betsy Weber, Mary Lyons and Pat Leahy.