Dr. Elias E. Villarreal

MISSION, TX. – Dr. Elias E. Villarreal passed away in his sleep of natural causes on Wednesday, the 29th of July 2026. He was 92.

Elias, known as Lee to his immediate family and friends, was born on January 14, 1934, to Elias Lopez Villarreal and Victoria Adame Villarreal in Brownsville, Texas. He grew up in Brownsville, attending Annie S. Putegnat Elementary, Cummings Junior High, and graduated from Brownsville High School in 1952. Elias was a member of the Screaming Eagle Band where he played trombone.

Elias worked all his life, starting from the age of four at his Tio Meme’s bakery, filling orders for customers. As he got older, he delivered prescriptions on his bike throughout central Brownsville, where he also learned the names of the American Presidents that the streets were named after. In high school, he worked at Perl Brothers selling men’s clothing, and later at his family’s men’s clothing store, Villarreal Men’s clothing. He enjoyed wearing the latest styles of the day and excelled in assisting customers, as well as his grandson Chance later in life, in selecting suits and tuxedos and the appropriate and stylish accessories.

After graduation in 1952, Elias left Brownsville to attend The University of Texas at Austin until 1954, when he returned to Brownsville to assist his parents in closing the store because of his father’s illness. He later joined the United States Army, going to basic training at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. It was there that he was selected to attend electronics school at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he was one of three in his class to score the highest at the school. He was later transferred to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he became a medic, driving ambulances and working on post at the base hospital. He learned basic medical procedures such as stitching soldiers and their families for minor incidents, as well as providing other medical care. He drove an ambulance and delivered and picked up blood at a saloon in the Arizona desert. He spoke fondly of his time in the Army and the friends he made there.

After his honorable discharge, he returned to Brownsville and taught at Cummings Junior High from 1958 to 1960. He also worked in Starr County at a local ranch, where he met Guadalupe “Lupita” Trevino and they would later marry in La Gloria, Texas on November 17, 1962, and honeymooned in Mexico City. His cousin Meme Barrera flew them to Mexico City as his wedding gift to them. In September 1963, their daughter Sylvia Anne was born and Elias taught biology and chemistry at Brownsville High School from 1964 to 1967. Elias earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at Texas A&I in 1964. In June 1967, his son Elias “Lee” was born. During this time the family lived in the Los Ebanos subdivision, where Elias worked at the USDA and eventually as a chemist at Union Carbide. The kids enjoyed the annual Carbide Christmas party at Jacob Brown where they got to select from the most popular toys of the year and visit with Santa. Lupita and the kids would often pick him up from his early shifts and during these years, the family enjoyed vacations to San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Leakey, Texas.

Elias would later go on to his earn his Master’s degree in Counseling from Pan American University and became a Dean at Texas Southmost College for many years, as well as teaching biology and chemistry as an adjunct professor for 16 years. During Sylvia’s junior year, while taking chemistry, Elias would come home from teaching and help her with her chemistry homework, giving her the same tests that he had just given his chemistry class. He would make up formulas from the periodic tables to quiz her and prepare her for her exams. He eventually earned his Doctor of Philosophy from East Texas State University, commuting every weekend from Brownsville to Commerce for three years.

Elias would later take a job at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, commuting to Brownsville on the weekends. During his tenure at Del Mar, he was Dean of Continuing Education and initiated a workforce training program at Corpus Christi Army Depot at the Naval Station. He also implemented economic development and workforce training programs in business, law enforcement, health, and occupational areas in the Coastal Bend. He supervised the testing department that provided testing to 32 school districts as part of the College Connection Project. Elias served as Dean of Student Support Services and worked closely with the officers of the Student Government Association for both Del Mar campuses.

Elias was the State President of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education, where he provided testimony before the Subcommittee on Higher Education on behalf of minorities enrolled in development education courses in community colleges in the State of Texas.

During his life, Elias enjoyed listening to music from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, and the Rat Pack and later, Jim Croce, Charlie Rich, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Vicente Fernandez, and George Strait. He was a Dallas Cowboys fan and enjoyed watching the Longhorns, and later the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas Aggies when Chance transferred to A&M. When the family traveled to Central Texas in the late 60’s and early 70’s, he always ordered Coors because it was not sold in the Valley at the time. He later enjoyed relaxing with a Glenlivet neat or on the rocks or a Crown and Coke. When he traveled to Austin for the college in the 80’s, he would take Sylvia to dinner and laugh when she got carded for ordering a Margarita at Jorge’s. Although Elias was not an athlete in high school, he enjoyed running on his own, and would later run the Beach to Bay Marathon in Corpus Christi with a team he would organize. He was always reading the paper, watching the news, or reading a current bestseller about politics, history, or the Mafia. He and Lee watched the God Father series and would take the family to see the Daring Dobermans and the Planet of the Apes at the Charro Drive Inn off Boca Chica.

When he became a grandfather in 2004, he and Lupita spent time in Austin to take care of Chance and attend his athletic and academic activities, including Grandparents’ Day and the Halloween Hoot at St. Austin’s, soccer games with PAYSL, walking the neighborhood in the Austin heat during Halloween, and making memories for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. He kicked the soccer ball around and helped Chance later with his science homework. Later, he would take out his old chemistry books and solve the problems, and Lee bought him a new Chemistry book to continue this practice, which he would also calculate in his head.

Dad inspired us to get our degrees, work towards our goals, use common sense, do math in your head when making change, reading and following instructions, and never stop learning. He believed in science and understood that science and medicine are always evolving. He also taught us the importance of voting in every election, whether local, state, and national.

Elias and Lupita led by example taking Sylvia and Lee with them when voting and discussing the importance of civic responsibility. Dad often reminded us that in his generation, working people usually had to wait until after work to cast their ballots. That lesson left a lasting impression on Sylvia, who now makes it a point to vote before work whenever possible, a quiet reminder of how much he valued participating in our democracy.

Elias was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Lupita T. Villarreal; his parents, Elias and Victoria Villarreal; his sister, Raquel Villarreal; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Jesusita and Pedro Trevino; sisters-in-law, Josefina Trevino and Luz Vicinaiz; brothers-in-law, Vicente Vicinaiz, Pablo Trevino, and Refugio Trevino; as well as extended family and friends.

Survivors include his daughter, Sylvia Villarreal Mraz; his son, Lee Villarreal, Jr.; his grandson, Chance Mraz; his sister, Zoyla Villarreal; his sisters-in-law, Toni Trevino and Maria Lilia Trevino; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Carmela and Juan Luis Longoria; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family members.

The family wishes to thank the nurses and providers at Waterford Gardens in Mission, Texas for their care and compassion during the last three years. We would also like to thank the waitstaff and owners at the Vermillion and the Oyster Bar for their kindness after Lupita passed and Elias would come in to eat and enjoy conversations.

We love and miss you and we’ll always remember that New Year’s Eve is Amateur night. Hook ‘em and Gig ‘em!

Visiting hours will be held on Monday, the 3rd of August 2026 between the hours of six o'clock in the evening and eight o'clock at night, with the recitation of the holy rosary to be recited at seven o'clock Monday evening within the East Chapel of Darling-Mouser Funeral Home.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at twelve noon on Tuesday, the 4th of August 2026 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1914 Barnard Road, Brownsville. Entombment with military honors will then follow, via an escorted procession, within the Buena Vista Burial Park Mausoleum, 5 McDavitt Boulevard, Brownsville.

Memories of Dr. Villarreal 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.