Antonia Alba

Elsa- Seven days after her eldest daughter's 76th birthday, and hours after one last serenade by a local Mariachi troupe, Antonia Castellanos Alba relinquished her earthly body in search of her heavenly one. Any time a visitor left Grandma Toña's house, one said "Hasta mañana!" followed by Grandma Toña's response, "Si Dios Quiere," so it must have been God's wish that Wednesday, September 26th, would be her last day with us.

Antonia Castellanos Esparza was born June 13th, 1932, in El Salto, Jalisco, the youngest of three daughters to Magdaleno Castellanos Lomeli and Josefina Esparza Haro. A factory town with a river running thru it and a landmark waterfall ("cascada"), it was there that Antonia spent her formative years, a town that she would start her family in, and a town that served as her "North Star" later in life.

When an opportunity presented itself in 1950 to seek a better life for the single mother and her first daughter, she came straight to Texas. It was in Elsa that she happened to catch the eye of Juan Alba, a local tradesman, and in short order, they brought their families together and proceeded to expand it.

Over the following 20+ years, she helped raise three strong, independent and fierce daughters, cut from the same cloth as her own. When she widowed in 1974, Antonia stepped back into the workforce and made a career of working in frozen produce packaging and at a local cut and sew operation where she pressed an infinite number of Dockers khaki pants.

When retirement arrived, Toñita was able to enjoy the days by playing Chalupa in the afternoon (but only the nickel bets, never the quarter ones), chatting with friends, and on the occasion when it was presented, she danced. Evenings were religiously spent on Mexican soap operas and the daily news; the mystery of life kept her grounded, though, and in instances when she did not have the answer, she shrugged her shoulders, and one heard "Quien sabe?" If an outcome had come to pass that was not in perfect alignment, she accepted the result but quipped, "Pues, nimodo." When life handed her lemons, she did not make lemonade - she made pozole, a dish from her native Jalisco.

Her fierce independence never waned with age; she could go toe-to-toe with any of her daughters and defend her position until her daughters would relent and exclaim,"Ay, Ama!" Never one to shut down a party, she always chose to depart early by proclaiming, "Donde esta Veronica!?"

The years would pass, health issues would creep in, and the death of her first born daughter would add a layer of pain that no medicine could heal; still, she remained Great Grandma Toña, Grandma Toña, Ama, and the spunky Antonia, a woman who taught more with her actions than with her words.

While she never learned to drive, she had two feet, and she was not afraid to use them. She was surprised to have arrived into the ninth decade of life (although her sisters had done the same), so to celebrate (with a streak of rebellion), she chose a daily pumpkin-filled empanada as a meal replacement for dinner. When it was time for her to go, she recognized it, and one of her last requests was to "go home." It was in that spirit that Mariachi sang some of her home's most recognized songs at her bedroom window hours before she departed.

Antonia may have left the building, but her spirit remains in all of us; the shoulder pain is gone - replaced by the joy of being reunited with her parents, her sisters, her husband, and her first born daughter, Sandra.

Mrs. Alba is preceded in death by her parents, Mr. Magdaleno Castellanos and Mrs. Josefina E. Castellanos; her husband, Juan E. Alba; her step son, Roberto Rodriguez; her daughter, Sandra Cisneros; her son-in-law, Rudy Cisneros and her sisters, Magdalena Valadez & Sara Alcala.

Left to cherish her memories are her daughters, Veronica Alba, Yvonne (Reynaldo) Limas; her step-son, Ricardo Alba; her step-daughters, Connie Kailes, Esperanza Jarvis; Grandchildren: David (Krystal) Cisneros, Johnny (Amanda) Cisneros, Lillian (Alfonso) Ochoa, Raquel Limas, Johnny Limas; and her great-grandchildren: Diego Cisneros, Marco Cisneros, Carlo Cisneros, Phoenix Cisneros, Aria Cisneros, Zosia Cisneros, Maverick Cisneros, Isabella Ochoa, Daniel Ochoa, Sofia Ochoa, Alexa Ortegon, and Joaquin Ortegon.

Visitation for Mrs. Antonia C. "Toñita" Alba is scheduled for Monday, September 30, 2024 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm with a Holy Rosary at 7:00 pm at Salinas Funeral Home- Chapel of the Angels in Elsa. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 1:00 pm at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Elsa. Interment will follow at Highland Memorial Park in Weslaco.

Funeral Services have been entrusted to Salinas Funeral Home of Elsa.