MOSES SOROLA BEATS US TO THE PROMISED LAND

(It is with a heavy heart that we bring the sad tidings of the passing away of a dear friend and mentor Moses Sorola. Besides raising a family and running a business, Moses was passionate advocate for the betterment of his community. He could be cantankerous, stubborn, and set in his ways, but there was no doubt that he was intellectually honest and sincere in his beliefs. As many people who grew up in his times, Moses carried with him deeply-held values of self responsibility, governmental frugality, civic involvement and love of family, community and country. He was a true conservative in the finest sense of the word. Our condolences go to his family. We will miss him, too.)

Moses Sorola was called to rest at the age of 80 on Dec. 24, 2013. Mr. Sorola was born on Sept. 4, 1933, in San Antonio, Texas. He was the youngest of eight children born to the late Pedro and Melchora Sorola.
In 1952, he graduated from Burbank High School in San Antonio. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955 and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. 

In 1958, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Mr. Sorola’s 35-year civil service career with the U.S. Air Force began in 1959. He was a weapons system logistics officer and served in Iceland, Canada, Okinawa, Ohio, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Washington. In 1980, he was promoted to the position of director of engine maintenance at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. In 1983, he became the deputy chief of the Resource Management Division at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Okla., where he was responsible for an industrial fund budget of more than one-half billion dollars. When he retired in 1988, he was responsible for negotiating workloads for more than 8,500 government employees.
After retiring from the civil service Mr. Sorola moved to Brownsville with his wife of 53 years, Norma Sorola. He returned to college at the University of Texas at Brownsville and became certified in elementary education. He taught fourth and fifth grades in Brownsville for seven years.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his son Louis S. Sorola and fiancée Mary Esther Garcia; daughters Patricia Johnson and her husband Karl Johnson, Michelle Quintero and her husband Jose Quintero, and Mardi Sorola Christensen and her husband Patrick Williams Christensen; nine grandchildren, Matthew Johnson, Erica Johnson, Daniel Quintero, Mia Sara Quintero, Diego Quintero, Ava Quintero, Georgia Abigail Christensen, Adalia Sorola and Evita June Christensen.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 at Lord of  Divine Mercy Parish, 650 E. Alton Gloor Blvd. in Brownsville. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that donations be made to the Gentiva Hospice Foundation at www.gentivafoundation.org.