JUDGE BENNY OCHOA'S MOTHER PASSES AWAY IN PORT ISABEL

Port Isabel, Texas - Maria Ochoa, 85, of Port Isabel, TX entered into eternal rest, surrounded by her loving family, on November 10, 2017, at Valley Regional Hospital.

Maria was a lifetime resident of Port Isabel and a member of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church of Port Isabel.

Maria was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Juan and Isabel B. Vega, who was the first Port Isabel World War I Veteran. 

She was born on June 19th, 1932 and graduated from Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic school. Maria was an active member of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church and always helped out with the yearly bazaar, donating a whopping 100 pounds of ground beef for the Guadalupanas. 

When the church needed an organ, she was a donor. Her family grocery store donated the church pews, too. Her grandpa, Jesus Vega, owned the first hotel, El Casino Hotel on South Padre Island, in the early 1900s. Maria was an active member in the early Band Booster Club. 

For 22 years, she was a part of the Athletic Club for Friday Night Football. Maria went out her way to help her family and those in the community to fundraise for whatever was needed. She would make candy apples to help in the fundraising process. Maria was always on hand to help candidates during the election season at no cost.

 She would say that you were supposed to "exercise your right to vote in order to have a voice in the community." In the early 1950's she was the owner of Ochoa Grocery and in the early 70's, she was the owner of the B&B Meat Market and Grocery Store, both located in Port Isabel. In the early 90's, she was the manager of the Beach Snacks Bar on South Padre Island.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Benito Ochoa Jr.; her parents, Juan and Isabel B. Vega; brothers, Jose (+Daisy) Anorga, Porfirio (Mary Lou) Vega, and Eliseo (Olga) Vega; sister, Sofia (+Rodolfo) Carrillo; father and mother-in-law, Benito Sr. and Virginia Torres Ochoa; and son-in-law, Whitman Bodden.

She is survived by her loving children: Claudia Elma (Moises) Galvan of Port Isabel, Benito (Teresa) Ochoa III of Port Isabel, Virginia (Steve) Owens of Port Isabel, Juan E. (Patricia) Ochoa of Houston, Marianella (+Whitman) Bodden of Laguna Vista, Maria del Rosario (Victor) Garza of Brownsville, and Saul P. (Lupita Sauceda) Ochoa of Port Isabel, Texas; 21 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren; one sister, Beatriz V. (Juan) Zapata of Port Isabel, Texas.

Visitation will be on Sunday, November 12, 2017 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a holy rosary to be recited at 7 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 705 S. Longoria St. in Port Isabel.

Mass of Resurrection will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 13, 2017 at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Port Isabel. Interment will follow at Port Isabel City Cemetery in Port Isabel, Texas.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons, Benito Ochoa IV, Eddie Pena, Ariel Pena, Whitman L. Bodden, William Johnathan Bodden, Jude Ochoa, Jonathan Ochoa, Carlo Garza, Victor Hugo Garza, and Saul Daniel Ochoa.

Honorary Pallbearers are Castulo Vasquez, Casimiro Mares Martinez, Lauro Ochoa, Horacio O. Hinojosa, Arnold Green, Robert Fisher, Honorable Judge Bobby Lerma, David Betancourt, Sherriff Omar Lucio, Honorable Judge Gilberto Hinojosa, Gerardo Linan, Honorable Judge Eddie Trevino, Joe G. Rivera, Senator Eddie Lucio Jr, Honorable Judge Juan Magallanes, and Joe Castillo.

Special thanks to Rosa Gomez, her longtime caregiver, who was kind, compassionate, tolerant, and understanding.

You may sign the online guestbook and send words of comfort, flowers, or sympathy cards to the family of Maria V. Ochoa at www.thomaegarza.com.