MARTHA EARLENE MOORMAN LONGORIA (1925 ~ 2006). The following is an obituary for Martha Earlene Moorman Longoria, spouse of former State Senator and Member of the Texas House of Representatives Raul L. Longoria. The obituary was published in the Houston Chronicle.
"MARTHA EARLENE MOORMAN LONGORIA died peacefully on December 1, 2006 at the age of 81. Born on March 22, 1925 at Gorman, Texas, to Earl Clayborn Moorman and Sorentha Winters Claitor Moorman, she graduated from Gorman High School in 1942, ranked third in her class. In a day when no government assistance for higher education existed, she could not immediately pursue her goal of a higher education.
By September 1945, she had saved enough to begin her new life, buying a suitcase large enough to pack her personal items, and moved to Austin, Texas, in September of that year. Registering at The University of Texas for the fall semester, she accepted a position part time at the University Herbarium, part of the University Department of Botany, in order to support herself. One day in 1946, as she was walking back to the Herbarium from her Spanish class she was invited by another student, Raul L. Longoria, to join him at the Student Union for a cup of coffee.
On September 9, 1947, they were married in Austin in the presence of seven fellow student friends, all members of the Greatest Generation. Raul and the other men had recently returned from their military service during WWII. Earlene was graduated with a degree in Business Administration, with honors, in 1949. After Raul was graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1952, they moved to the Rio Grande Valley where they started their new life, and raised their children. Earlene was a talented teacher, instilling the pursuit of education and love of literature in her students at Edison Middle School, and Jefferson Junior High School.
In 1973, Earlene passed the Texas Bar Examination without ever having attended law school. She achieved this through pure determination. After she passed the Bar, she devoted herself to the practice of law and to her children to enable Raul to pursue his political career in the Texas Legislature.
Through Earlene's tireless support as a political wife, he won loyal friends and 12 elections, to serve for 30 years as a State Representative, State Senator and finally District Judge. Earlene and Raul had been married for 53 years, when Raul died on May 9, 2001. Throughout that time, Earlene loved and supported him. To her family she truly gave her all.
She is survived by her children and their spouses, Sam and Cher Longoria, Janiece and Steve Lasher, Elaine and Jim Mustard, Roy and Margot Longoria, and Cecilia Longoria. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Martin Longoria, and Eduardo Longoria. She is also survived by innumerable relatives and friends.
Her children and friends will remember her with great tenderness for her life long dedication to the values of loyalty, trust, honesty, and kindness. She loved to sing, and she sang songs to her children that continue to kindle devotion to her memory, her great spirit, and her Texas optimism: 'Accentuate the Positive and Eliminate the Negative,' 'Hey Hey Good Looking,' 'Lazybones,' 'On the Sunny Side of the Street,' 'Don't Fence Me In,' 'Stardust,' 'Mexicali Rose,' 'Ole San Antone,' 'The Yellow Rose of Texas.' A graveside service and interment for this proud daughter of Texas will fittingly be at the Texas State Cemetery, 909 Navasota Street, Austin, Texas, where she will be buried next to her beloved husband, Raul. They will rest together under the sheltering canopy of Texas Live Oaks, with the serenity that comes from a life well lived.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Raul and Earlene Longoria Scholarship Fund at the University of Texas Pan American, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78541."
Further information is available through the Texas State Cemetery research department. |
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