Valley Morning Star from Harlingen, Texas • 8

A8 valleystar.com April 29, 2014 Death Notices WESLACO- Senaida V. Lopez, 68, passed away on Sunday, April 27, 2014 at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of Hawkins Funeral Home of Weslaco. Ralph Galvan, 92 died Friday April 25, 2014 at the Biltmore Assisted Living Facility. Services are pending and will be announced later.

Kreidler Funeral Home, is in charge of the arrangements. Kreidler- funeralhome.com LA Manuel Hernandez, 61, passed away Monday, April 28, 2014 at Harlingen Medical Center. Funeral arrangements are pending at Heavenly Grace Funeral Home. PORT Marilyn M. Ratliff, 88, passed away April 28, 2014 at Victoria House.

Arrangements are under the direction of Buck Ashcraft Funeral Home. William (Bill) H. 90, passed away April 27, 2014 at Retama Manor Nursing Home. Arrangements are under the direction of Buck Ashcraft Funeral Home. SAN Marie K.

Phillips 89 passed away on Monday, April 28, 2014. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Henry Thomae Funeral Home on Bowie. Leonor Marquez, 90, of Brownsville, Texas passed away on Monday, April 28, 2014 at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville. Services have been entrusted to Sunset Funeral Homes. (956) 350-8485.

Major Gerald Lee Graver, passed away on April 18, 2014 at his home. Funeral services are under the direction of First Christian Church in Granbury. (817-573-5431). John H. Azzalino 88, passed away on Sunday April 27, 2014 at VBMC.

Arrangements are under the direction of Trinity at Harrison Funeral Home. HARLINGEN Juan Villarreal 55 passed away on Thursday, April 24, 2014. Arrangements are under the direction of Trinity at Harrison Funeral Home. Funerals Today LOS FRESNOS- Funeral mass for Roberto Mendez will be held today at 10 am at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Port Isabel City Cemetery under the direction of Thomae-Garza Funeral Directors of San Benito (956) 399-1331.

Funeral services for Joel Villarreal, 10am Trinity Funeral Chapel. Interment will follow to Restlawn Memorial Park under the direction of Trinity at Harrison Funeral Home. Juventino I. de Leon, Jr. MERCEDES, TX.

Juventino I. de Leon 91 Juventino I. de Leon, longtime resident of Mercedes, Texas, entered into eternal rest on Saturday, April 26, 2014 in the McAllen Medical Center at the age of 91. Mr. de Leon was born in Mercedes, Texas, on January 23, 1923 and was well known as a barber in this town.

He also worked for the Mercedes Independent School District for many years in the Maintenance and Transportation Department. Mr. de Leon was a U.S. Veteran, having served his country in World War II in the Pacific Theater in Papua, New Guinea. Survivors include his wife, Delia Ruelas de Leon; two sons, Gilbert P.

de Leon (Charlene), and Francisco L. de Leon; three daughters, Beatrice de Leon Edwards, Rebecca de Leon Wyche, and Maria Cecilia de Leon Barrera; thirteen grand-children; four great-grand-children; and numerous nephews and nieces. Surviving him are also a brother, Heri- berto de Leon, and a sister, Elisa de Leon Gutierrez. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Teresa de Leon Acevedo; a grandson, Juan Carlos Barrera; parents Juventino de and Elodia Trevino de Leon; and brother Alfredo de Leon. The family would like to thank the staff of the Alfredo Gonzalez Texas State Veterans Home in McAllen Texas for having their compassionate and devoted care while Mr.

de Leon was a resident there this past year, in particular the staff of the Memory Unit. Funeral services are under the direction and care of Rudy Garza Funeral Home of Mercedes Texas, 236 South Ohio Street in Mercedes Texas. Viewing will be held today, Tuesday, April 29, 2014 from to with a rosary to be recited at tonight. Funeral services will be conducted on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. We will depart Rudy Garza Chapel of Peace at for a Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church.

Interment will then follow at Highland Memorial Park Cemetery in Weslaco Texas. Sign the guestbook at: www.valleystar.com/obitu- aries. Dolores Juarez Garcia Dolores Juarez Garcia, 68, of Harlingen, Texas, entered into rest on April 27, 2014. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rafael and Lydia Gomez; and her brother, Rafael Gomez, Jr. Surviving her are her two sons, Bernard J.

(Dora) Garcia and Benjamin Garcia; four grandchildren: Jacqueline, Leah, Brenda, and Abigail Ann; eight brothers: Faustino, Gilberto, Ernesto, Jesse, Benito, Sammy, Robert, Ruben; and four sisters: Olga Garza, Gracie Alvarado, Esmeralda Cantu, and Irma Flores. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 from 3 pm to 6 pm, with a memorial service to be held at 7 pm, at Thomae-Garza Funeral Home in San Benito. You may sign the online guestbook and send words of comfort, flowers, or sympathy cards to the family of Dolores Juarez Garcia at: www.thomaegarza.com. Funeral arrangements entrusted to the care of Thomae-Garza Funeral Directors, 395 S. Sam Houston, San Benito, Texas, (956) 399-1331.

Genaro Reyes Diaz HARLINGEN, Genaro Reyes Diaz, 88, entered into eternal rest at home under the care of hospice on Sunday, April 27, 2014. Mr. Diaz worked as a truck driver for Hygeia and De La Garza trucking company in Brownsville, Texas. He is preceded in death by his mother, Tomasa Reyes and his first wife, Carolina Diaz. He is survived by his wife, Elpidia Diaz; sister, Maria Hernandez from Raymondville; his children, Genaro (Diana) Diaz, Jr.

Rosalinda (Jesus) Garcia, Gracie (Luis) Cerrillo, Adan (Francis) Diaz, and Evan Diaz all from Harlingen. Numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. Visitation will be held today, Tuesday, April 29, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. and continue until 9:00 p.m., with the recitation of the Holy Rosary to be held at 7:00 p.m., at Funeraria Del Angel Chapel. Mass of Resurrection will be Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 11:00 a.m., at Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church, Harlingen, Texas.

Interment will follow at Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito, Texas. Honored to be serving as his pallbearers are Joe Flores, Danny Diaz, Luis Cerrillo III, Adan Diaz Jr, Eric Diaz, Jesse Garcia. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Funeraria Del Angel, Cemeteries, Mausoleums and a Dignity Memorial Provider, 2906 S. Expressway Harlingen, Texas 78550. Sign the guestbook at: www.valleystar.com/obitu- aries.

Notice- For more information on submitting an obituary, please contact the Valley Morning Star by phone: 956-421-9805 (Weekdays) or 956-430-6206 (Weekends). You may email your request to or fax to 956-430-6231 (Weekdays) 956-4306233 (Weekends). Death notices and funeral announcements are provided free of charge by the Valley Morning Star as a public service. For families who want a complete story, including a photograph, an obituary is available for a nominal charge. Information for this service will be accepted by 1:30 p.m.

daily. OBITUARIES Space shuttle carrier to be museum piece Kids who met online win Scrabble championship Family and friends remember slain teen By MICHAEL GRACZYK The Associated Press HOUSTON Another piece of history tied to the now retired space shuttle fleet is making its last journey. A convoy of giant flatbed trailers slowly began an eight- mile trip Monday carrying the biggest disassembled pieces of the old 747 jumbo jet that flew shuttles on cross-country trips for decades. Known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, it ill be put back together, topped with a shuttle replica about 60 feet off the ground and become a museum piece scheduled to be shown next year just outside Johnson Space Center, here center director Ellen Ochoa will see it from her office window. think it will be a great said Ochoa, who believed the display at the adjacent Space Center Houston would provide for visitors a final piece of the story about shuttle missions.

being able to put the shuttle on top and show how it was ferried back and forth, it was pretty amazing hen people first came up ith that concept. I think the initial thought was: a crazy idea. But our folks made it work, and that was part of what made the shuttle program said Ochoa, who flew on four space shuttle missions. Houston, where Mission Control served as the center for the manned space flights and where astronauts have trained, was left out as a retirement home for the real shuttles. Those went to Los Angeles, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and New York City.

will tell the story of how it was ferried back and forth and how it Ochoa said. me part of completing this Unlike the four other shuttles, the replica and the carrier will be open to the public, making it a educational experience, she said. The modified 747 would carry the shuttle piggyback to Florida after missions where the spacecraft landed in California or New Mexico, instead of the normal, and less costly, landings at Kennedy Space Center. This procession, moving at about walking speed, was headed from Ellington Field to Space Center Houston, a science education and space museum. The caravan began moving Monday afternoon, crawling along roads through the former Air Force base and stopping while utility crews moved overhead lines.

Once outside the airfield, it will move over two days only at night so it too badly disrupt traffic and normal activities along its route in far south Houston. It is scheduled to cover six miles by Tuesday morning, then finish the trek the following night. just wanted to see Phil Williams, 83, a retired NASA employee said as he and his wife, Ardis, 87, walked up close to the carrier. wanted to see a real shuttle here, of course, but not to be. all right.

not going to get upset with the small The Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. Two eighth graders who live hundreds of miles from each other paired to win the National School Scrabble championship. Thomas Draper, of Skillman, N.J., and Jacob Sass, of Magnolia, Texas, play Scrabble online. The Providence Journal reports the boys met in person for the first time Saturday at the tournament in Providence. The pair beat brothers Jack and Nicholas Miklaucic, seventh graders from Charlotte, N.C., for the title and a $10,000 grand prize, which they will share.

More than 100 Scrabble players from grade four through eight participated in the 12th annual tournament, held inside toy-maker Hasbro. Contestants played in teams of two, with each facing seven teams from the United States and Canada. The Associated Press MILFORD, CONN. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P.

Malloy, classmates and others paid tribute Monday to a slain Connecticut teenager, saying she lived a remarkable life and imploring others to learn from her example. Malloy called Maren Sanchez a star, saying she was inclusive, kind, talented and giving. He said she accomplished so much in a short period of time and affected so many. was someone who moved Malloy said. you look at this crowd, you might even imagine she moved The 16-year-old was stabbed to death Friday morning inside the high school, just hours before she was to attend her junior prom with her boyfriend.

Malloy spoke at an outdoor vigil at Jonathan Law High School Monday night that featured the release of purple balloons, favorite color, and songs in her memory. Other speakers implored the crowd to live like she did. just really heartbreaking to see something Iike this happen in your hometown, especially to a place you said Amanda Awwad, 19, of Milford, who graduated from the school two years ago and dropped off flowers at a memorial in front of the school Monday. The memorial started with a large rock spray- painted purple, with her first name, birth date and a heart painted in white. It grew to include flowers, stuffed animals, balloons, candles and notes.

Purple ribbons were tied around trees by the school. People also were dressed in purple as they visited the site. Workers prepare the Boeing 747 shuttle carrier for its move from Ellington Field to Space Center Houston on Monday, in Houston. OB EVEY HE A SSOCIATED RESS ESSICA ILL HE A SSOCAITED RESS Friends of slain Maren Sanchez, including boyfriend Jarrod Butts embrace during a vigil for her at Jonathan Law High School, Monday, in Milford, Conn..