Nieves R. Revilla

Nieves Ramirez Revilla was one of seven children born to Felipe Ramirez, and Manuela Zepeda Ramirez, she was a devoted wife to Luis Revilla, and a mother to 12 children, she was born in Harlingen, Texas on August, 5 1925, and resided in Houston Texas.

She is preceded in death by her sisters Maria R. Arreola, Guadalupe Ramirez, Eva Martinez, Dolores Ramirez, and her brother Felipe Ramirez Jr., her Husband Luis Revilla, her sons Georgie Revilla, Gerardo Revilla, Robert Revilla, and her daughters Linda Revilla Gomez; Gloria Revilla Eastwood and her husband Gerald; and she is survived by her Sister Nena Villanueva, and her children, Joe Luis Revilla and his wife Margaret; Ramiro Revilla; Oscar Revilla and his wife Sylvia; Regulo Roy Revilla; Bertha Padron and her husband Sam; Maria Teresa Sanches and her husband Vincent; Diana Delarosa and her husband Mario; and many, many, many, Grandchildren, Great- Grandchildren, and Great, Great Grandchildren.

As a young child she and her family endured the great depression of the 1930’s by eating and surviving on nothing but cucumbers, she didn’t like cucumbers or the smell of them for a long, long time as an adult. In 1944, at the age of 19 she married Luis Revilla, and they had 12 children together. They had seven sons, and five daughters, each one of them separated by 2 years, from the first to the last. They had been married for 48 years, they were part of a social club and every weekend, they went dancing with other couples, and when they weren’t spending the holidays in Mexico, they spent them at that social club, Christmas and New Year events were spent there, and they were envied by many with their smooth dance moves. They loved dancing and did it every single weekend, until her husband passed away in November of 1992. From that day on she lived alone in their home, and she never remarried, she loved her independence, although she had family living with her from time to time, she lived alone much of the time, until one of her sons came to live with her and watched over her for 20 years. She finally went to live with her eldest daughter, at the age of 98, and that took a whole lot of convincing.

She lived and watched her children, and her grandchildren grow up for decades starting in 1946 when her first son was born, then in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and the 2000’s.

She was a tough woman, she endured losing her loved ones along the way, starting in 1957 -2024. She was a devoted wife, a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a great, great grandmother, she had more than 100 grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, combined.

She was a hard-working woman, who worked for more than 35 years for Nieman Marcus, riding the bus to and from work every day, for all those years, until she finally retired in 1987 at the age of 62. Both her and her husband worked hard and passed on a strong work ethic to their children.

She was an amazing, smart, strong, tenacious, fierce, fearless, diligent woman, she was one of a kind. They just don’t make women like her anymore! She not only provided for her family by working outside the home, but she also taught them how to be frugal, and how to save money, by showing them how to do a lot of do-it-yourself projects, refurbishing anything that could be refurbished. She taught all her daughters how to sew, how to save at the grocery store, and how to stretch a dollar! She was an entrepreneur of sorts, always buying, making, creating, and selling something, whether it was food (tamales) or sewing curtains, clothes, costumes for school plays, or for family, she invested in the stock market, and in real estate, she had a real common sense about her. She was smart and witty, no one could get anything by her. She demonstrated that when she would travel to and from Mexico, alone in that old Greyhound bus, she would sneak away alone, and not tell any of her children when she would go, (because she knew they would stop her from doing it) Not until she would arrive at her destination, would she call her family and tell them where she was. And by that time, it was too late for anybody to do anything, except scold her over the phone, she thought that was the funniest thing, and she would just laugh, as she always did, when she did something devious. She was a rebel in her own way. She traveled alone, for many years, up until her son moved in with her, and put a stop to that, by that time she was well into her 80’s. She rode the metro bus every day to and from her senior citizen group. She never learned to drive, and so she walked everywhere, and took the bus, and she was 93 years old when she finally had to stop riding the bus. Her children had to finally put a stop to it, they tried to do it sooner, but she was sneaky, always sneaking away and getting on the bus!

In her younger years, she loved to take her small children, and grandchildren through downtown Houston on the metro bus, and showed them the little treasures that downtown Houston had to offer, like the little eateries underground, in the tunnels of downtown Houston, everyone knew her by name in those places. She shared that with her younger children, and her grandchildren, it was a special time for all who got to experience it.

She blessed everyone she encountered, the bus driver, her friends in her senior citizen group, her mailman, and any strangers that walked onto her property. She was a hard woman, brutally honest, and as stubborn and honoree as they come, and she loved just as hard, she loved her whole clan and every year for a long, long time she would make sure to buy each child and grandchild a Christmas gift, not until it got to be way too many, did she have to stop doing that. She was the Rock of her family, and she was a part of a lot of her grandchildren’s early lives, her grandchildren were always at her house, from the ages of 5-15 years old. Different grandchildren, at different times, she helped raise many of them.

She filled every day with kindness, laughter and incredible love. She touched so many lives leaving an unforgettable mark on everyone that she crossed paths with. So many feel lucky to have had some of the most wonderful moments with her and she made every one of her grandchildren feel so special!

She lived to be an incredible 99 years old, and yet it seems way too soon for her to leave us. There are so many stories, and memories that her family will cherish forever! Each one of her family members has different memories, and different stories to remember. Her family will never be the same, and their lives will forever be changed. She has left a void in their hearts forever!