Manuela Angelina Silva

Born July 21, 1941, in San Luis Potosi, SLP, Mexico, Manuela became a US citizen where she lived her life since age 19; and died September 4, 2022, in Houston, TX. Elder Sister, single Mother, and Grandmother, Manuela is survived by Sister and Brother, Concepcion(Connie) Silva, and Angel Silva, and by her Daughter Claudia R. Silva-Homa, her Son-in-Law, Stephen Homa, and her Grandson, Ephraim James Homa. Relatives from New York who will attend her service include her Sister-in-Law Maria Elena and her two nephews David Silva and Milton Silva. Extended family in California, Ohio, New York, and Mexico grieves her passing.

She was all love, but Claudia and Ephraim were the Sunshine of her life. Her greatest joy was taking care of her grandson, Ephraim, during her retirement; whom she loved more than anything in the world. As a pre-schooler, they were inseparable from the time he was dropped off at her home in the morning, till the time his mother would pick him up in the afternoon. This continued through his school days. Many adventures were shared at the playground, attending local functions around the city, playing with his mighty machines and after-school when she would pick him up. Their bond is unbreakable.

Manuela’s life of service, commitment to the philosophy of caring , loving and supporting each other in a nuclear family was influenced by her Mother Socorro and her maternal grandmother, Paula, affectionally addressed as Guita. Both women gained their strength and power to overcome life challenges earlier in life when they first emigrated to the US during Mexico’s revolution. They worked in the farm fields. Socorro grew up in the fruit and cotton fields of Texas. In the off-season, they became laundry workers in town; Guita being one of the best in ironing men’s dress shirts, a skill highly prized everywhere she went. Life events takes them back to Mexico where Socorro’s children are born. Eventually Socorro legally returns to the US in search of opportunity and educational achievements because she prized American fairness, and justice. Her tenacity for education continued throughout her life. She passed her GED in her seventies. Both Connie and Angel earned graduate degrees in their respective fields. It was the influence of both women, single mothers’ fighting spirit to never give up and faith in God that was the model that Manuela manifested in her life.

Manuela arrived in Houston five years after her siblings at the age of nineteen, fully formed by the Mexican educational system, where she earned a Business Certificate from Bernardino del Razo Academy in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. At the insistence of her mother, Manuela immediately enrolled in evening classes, “English as a second language” at San Jacinto High School, Houston, Texas, institution from which she completed studies and earned her HS Diploma; reluctantly, Manuela studied alongside young people many years her junior. She began her path in nursing by training and working as a Nursing Assistant at the now Christus St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston, Texas. A few years later, she pursued and earned the title Licensed Vocational Nurse, from a nursing program offered at Herman Hospital, Medical Center in Houston. Her first job as an LVN in this setting was an assignment in the newborn nursery where she worked for a while. She opted to become a Certified Operating Room Technician when the trend-setting opportunity was offered. Like her Grandmother before her, she excelled and became the best of the best at her profession. She worked as a Certified Scrub Technician in the operating room at the now Christus St. Joseph Hospital for about 15 years where she specialized assisting general surgery and oncology surgery physicians in the operating room. Thereafter, she was recruited by Ambulatory Surgery administration, St. Luke’s Ambulatory Surgery Towers in Houston, to train and scrub for an internationally known surgeon in micro surgery, a position she held for over 16 years, until her retirement. Her mother’s legacy for education and excellence in achievements was now fulfilled.

She had a unique ability to participate in discussions of common interest to both parties. When she met her Nephew Milton as an intern in Medical School already working in surgery, they spoke like old professionals sharing war stories and testing each other’s knowledge. She could debate any issue.

She was a lifelong Roman Catholic who thought of her challenges as just part of the vale of tears we all experience in this world. She was always short of money. One day, she put her Faith on the line: she resolved to tithe and share her money; she noticed shortly thereafter that her money problems disappeared. During her recent illness of five days, on the fourth day, she received the Sacraments of the Sick, often referred to as the Last Rites, something she really wanted, but could not ask for herself; she transitioned twenty-four hours later, at the same hour of the previous day when she had been spiritually prepared to meet her Creator.

Manuela died as she lived, always fighting for the right, always dreaming a better world, and always doing her best service. Her career, as a nurse, joyfully started at the Newborn Nursery of Herman Hospital in Houston, Texas; at the end of her journey, she returned to Herman-Memorial Hospital to put closure to her physical life, as she transitioned from this world.

A visitation for Manuela will be held Friday, September 16, 2022 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Funeraria Del Angel Crespo Navigation, 2516 NAVIGATION BLVD, HOUSTON, TX 77003. A funeral service will occur Friday, September 16, 2022 from 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM, 2516 NAVIGATION BLVD, HOUSTON, TX 77003. A committal service will occur Friday, September 16, 2022 from 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM at Historic Hollywood Cemetery, 3506 N Main St., Houston, TX 77009.