Celia Carranza

1952 – 2024

Celia Carranza of San Antonio, Texas passed away Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

Celia was the youngest child of Adelina and Andres Almazan, born November 5, 1952. She grew up in San Antonio, attending Hawthorne Middle School and graduating from Fox Tech High School. While at Hawthorne, Celia met Rick Carranza, her future husband. For their first date, Rick and Celia attended the opening of HemisFair ’68, the official 1968 World's Fair.

Celia was a fun-loving person who enjoyed meeting new people. Her outgoing personality and engaging nature helped her excel in all she chose to pursue. She worked in various roles including customer service and collections in the mortgage industry and welcomed customers as the hostess in many well-known San Antonio restaurants. Later in life she co-owned and operated Rainbow Spirits Liquor Store, a small business on St. Mary's Street, alongside Rick for 15 years.

Celia was devoted to family and made even the most routine gathering into a special occasion by cooking delicious meals. With Celia, holidays were elaborate and over the top.

She loved spending hours in the kitchen to bring joy to those she loved. Celia paired her love of cooking with her joy of reading and curated a collection of over 500 cookbooks which she meticulously catalogued and organized. She enjoyed many additional hobbies including gardening and hand-painting cascarones. Celia appreciated corny jokes and will be remembered for the big smiles and countless laughs she brought to many.

Celia is preceded in death by her son Danny, her parents, brothers Andrew and Martin Almazan, and nephew Joseph Allen.

She is survived by her husband Rick, sisters Julia Allen and Mary Lou Garcia, and many nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews whom she was incredibly close to.