Celia Castro

Celia was born on September 9th, 1951 to Arturo and Susie Castro. She grew up in the Cherrywood neighborhood and attended Maplewood Elementary School, University of Junior High School, and Austin High School. She received her bachelor’s in English at the University of Texas at Austin and her JD at the University of Texas School of Law.

In the 1980s she ran her own private practice and even ran for a county judge seat. In 1984 she began working part-time as a judge for the City of Austin, where she became the first full time female Hispanic judge in the city in 1992, where she worked until 2004. She was recognized by several co-workers as someone who never pre-determined the outcome of a case, always taking into consideration the minute details to determine a fair and just decision. In 2005 she began working as an attorney for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality where she worked until her passing. She also continued to work as a visiting judge for Travis County, presiding over trials and delighting in performing weddings for couples.

As a young Hispanic girl in the 1960s she hid a transistor radio under her sheets late at night so she could listen to John F. Kennedy’s speeches which inspired her lifelong interest in politics and human rights. Throughout her life she was a member of many groups including: AVANCE-Austin, Mexican American Business and Professional Women Association of Austin, Las Comadres, and Austintatious Toastmasters. She was honored by the Hispanic National Bar Association in 1994 and received the Outstanding Hispanic Woman Award by the Austin LULAC Council.

After accomplishing incredible things in her adult life, one of her proudest achievements arrived in the summer of 1995, her only child, Sophia Castro. Celia prided herself in raising Sophia as a single mother who worked a rigorous full-time job to provide for the both of them. Their favorite pastimes together included spending hours getting lost in bookstores, reading every single plaque together at museums, and ending the day watching a good movie or TV show.

Celia never left a room without making a new friend and was constantly running into people she’d known throughout her life in grocery store lines or while buying clothes. She will be dearly missed for her intelligence, humor, and the feeling of comfort that she graced everyone in her life with.

Celia is survived by her daughter, Sophia Castro, her sister, Diana Canales, and numerous other family members and friends. The family wishes to send a deep and heartfelt “Thank You” to the nurses and staff members at the Heart Hospital of Austin, St. David’s Medical Center, and Hospice Austin’s Christopher House for providing constant comfort during the most difficult of times. The family asks for donations to be sent to Hospice Austin.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, January 19th, at 6 PM at Weed Corley Fish at 2620 S Congress Ave with a reception to follow.