SYLVIA CORINA GONZALEZ, 1940-2021

 

With sadness, TMI Episcopal shares the news that retired longtime Spanish teacher Sylvia (Botello) Gonzalez passed away Thursday, May 27. 

 

Señora Gonzalez, as she was known to her students, started at TMI in 1995 as a substitute teacher. She came to us from the Laredo Independent School District, where she had been a classroom teacher and a studio teacher for instructional television, also producing a student news program and a health and social-studies series. “Those were exciting years,” she said, “but not as exciting as what was to happen” after she became a full-time teacher at TMI in 1997.

 

During the next 20 years, she went from teaching Spanish 3, 4 and 5 and Advanced Placement to middle school – nearly every level TMI offers. Sra. Gonzalez also was the sponsor for TMI's chapter of the National Junior Honor Society for 15 years and often helped to represent TMI on admissions trips to the Rio Grande Valley (shown below at right with then-TMI Chaplain Father Scott Brown, now head of school, the Cofoid family and the late former Board of Governors member and TMI parent Jane Cozad and her family). 

 

 

TMI's 2008 yearbook was dedicated to her because “she challenges her Spanish scholars to try their best…and they benefit most from her generous and loving heart.” The dedication praises her “ability to tell when someone’s having a bad day and just needs some tender loving care. Her vibrant, colorful classroom is always open.”

 

The feeling between TMI students and Sra. Gonzalez was mutual. On her retirement in May 2017, she said during a Farewell Chapel service -- shown below with colleagues Leland Goertz, Barbara Zenner and Susan and Bob Bell; and former students Gabe Magraner '08 and Angelica Padron '97 -- that she “enjoyed the classroom on a daily basis, and the rewards have been many."

 

 

A memorial service for Sra. Gonzalez will be held at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 8, in TMI's All Saints Chapel, followed by a mariachi reception from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

 

In lieu of flowers, in accordance with her wishes, contributions toward the school's scholarship fund may be made to TMI in her memory.  Please send donations to:  Sylvia Gonzalez Memorial Gift, Advancement Office, TMI Episcopal, 20955 W. Tejas Trail, San Antonio TX  78257. 

 

Sylvia Corina Gonzalez, 81, entered into eternal rest on Thursday, May 27, 2021. A retired educator who dedicated herself to nurturing her students through love and laughter for over 40 years. Her family and friends could always count on her for great advice and conversation with a generous and loving heart. Sylvia’s wonderful spirit and love for music live on in those whose lives she touched.

Sylvia Gonzalez is preceded in death by her parents Heraldo Gonzalez and Corina Garza Gonzalez, her soulmate Pedro A. (Pete) Gonzalez and many precious family members. She is survived by her children: Leopoldo P. Botello, III, Maria de Lourdes Botello, Leticia C. Mond (Kevin), Luis Heraldo Botello, eight grandchildren, cherished extended family and friends.