Bruna B. Garcia

PETERSBURG, VA. – Señora Bruna B. Garcia passed away on Friday, the 18th April 2025 in the comfort of her residence in Petersburg, Virginia. She will be greatly missed.

From a young age she was a leader. Born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, she was the oldest girl of nine children. She reached 3rd grade education until she had to stay home and help care for her younger siblings. She helped raise seven siblings; some of whom did not live to adulthood. She became the oldest of five sisters: Maria De Jesus Alvarado+, Maria dela Luz De La Rosa, Eva Muñiz+, and Leobalda Zàrate. And she was a great sister to all of them.

In her youth, she had a drive to be productive. She learned to make paper mâché flowers and would make beautiful wreaths and arrangements for weddings, funerals and other social gatherings. Her artistry was well known in the surrounding “ranchitos.”

She later moved to Brownsville, Texas and worked in a flower shop showcasing her creativeness and natural skills. In the 1960s, she worked for Pan American Foods before getting bit by the adventure bug and traveling to California to chase the American dream. She worked in the fields picking cotton, potatoes, and various fruits. She became a seasonal worker, a migrant worker and was a part of the Cesar Chavez Revolution. And she was great at it. She worked for just one company the last 30 years of her “working” years. She was a proud employee of Sunview Vineyards of California picking table grapes. She made lifelong friends in those fields. She always remembered those friends fondly until she passed.

She made a life for herself and her daughter by working in those fields. She bought her first home and later had a new home built which she paid off all by herself. She was always careful with her money; frugal, some might say. She was proud of that.

She cared for her mother and stepfather until they passed away. After retiring, the adventure bug bit again and she would travel to Europe to spend summers with her grandchildren. She would always laugh that in America Mercedes cars are for the rich but in Europe they are taxi cabs. She got to walk in castles and hike up mountains, slide down into salt mines, walk through caves and even see the view from top of the Austrian alps. She loved gardening, cooking, talking to her sisters over the phone, and spending time with her family.

In her golden years, she lost her vision and moved in with her daughter and her family. There, she was cared for by her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and their spouses, especially Rachel. She was loved by all. Five years ago, she became a great-grandmother. Her world filled with rays of golden sunlight, songs, lots of hugs and kisses as well as sticky hands and laughter. She loved having little ones around her.

A few days before she passed her great-granddaughter Penny polished her nails with bright colors and glitter. Bruna told her she would see them soon, when she’d wake up. I’m sure she loved them.

She always said that she wanted to live long enough to see all her grandchildren wed. The last single grandson got married in March. She passed away peacefully 19 days later. She was surrounded by her family, holding her hands and thanking her for a wonderful life. She was cared by her family until she died. Rest in peace Abuelita.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Otilio Garcia and Maria Vela, and her sisters, Maria De Jesus Alvarado (Andres) and Eva Muñiz (Guadalupe).

Survivors include her daughter. Elvia Buenrostro and her son-in-law Juan Buenrostro; her grandchildren Monica Van Scyoc (Jacobb), David Buenrostro (Jordan), and Daniel Buenrostro (Rachel); her beautiful great-grandchildren Penelope, Theo, and Noah Buenrostro, Alistor and Freya Van Scoyc; and her sisters, Maria Dela Rosa and Leobalda Zàrate (Arturo); as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, the 1st of May 2025 between the hours of five o’clock in the afternoon and nine o'clock at night, with the recitation of the holy rosary to begin at seven o'clock Thursday evening within the East Chapel of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at two o'clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 2nd of May 2025 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 1055 Military Highway, Brownsville. Interment will then follow, via an escorted procession, at Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens, 4464 Old Port Isabel Road, Brownsville.

Memories of Bruna may be shared at www.darlingmouser.com.

Personalized funeral arrangements directed by Steven R. Hieu Bailey, CFSP and Staff have been entrusted to the care of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home at 945 Palm Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas 78520, (956) 546-7111.