The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I want
Lucila Lujan Garcia, lovingly known as Lucy, entered her eternal home August 4, 2024. Born August 31, 1939, right here in Marfa to Dora and Andres Lujan, the youngest of seven children, survived by her sister, Mageli Venegas, Lucy leaves behind a lasting mark on her native town.
I will fear no evil for you are at my side
A student of segregation at Blackwell School, she but last month witnessed the establishment, via bipartisan legislation signed by President Biden, of Blackwell School National Historic Site as the newest of our national parks. Following school she married Armando Garcia, the boy from two blocks away, on January 5, 1957, remaining so until death’s temporary partition. Lucy was a dedicated Army spouse to Sergeant Garcia, joining him in to posts in Fort Hood and Hawaii, and awaiting him stateside during deployments to Germany and Southeast Asia in the lead up to the Vietnam War. She passed at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.
You set a table before me … my cup overflows
Lucy had four children of her own and was “Mom” to many more. She is reunited with her two eldest, her sons, Glenn Lujan and Edward Samuel, and is survived by her loving daughters, Deborah Falknor and Brenda Garcia. Though she lost two children she gained a daughter-in-law, Leticia Garcia, and a son-in-law, Dr. Kenneth Falknor; five grandchildren, Aaron Garcia, Andrea Estrada, Dr. Marco Garcia, Jon Michael Fierro, and Steven Garcia; two great-daughters-in-law, Maria Teresa Garcia and Dr. Roxanna Perez; and six great-grandchildren, Diego and Sammy Estrada, Selena Fierro, Emile Garcia-Perez, Lucero “Lucy” Garcia, and Elora Garcia-Perez. Benita Razo Fierro is also a great-daughter-in-law, who is married to Jon Michael with their daughter Selena Fierro from Keller Texas.
A brilliant cook, Lucy got her chops helming the Marfa favorite, Mando’s, in the 1970s; her homemade tortillas, fideos, enchiladas, burgers and chicken-fried steaks are fondly remembered. She shared her hearth and home running a daycare during the subsequent four decades, having a hand in shaping a generation-plus of Marfa’s children, all who lovingly called her “Mom.” After the military service, her husband, Armando, entered the insurance industry and with hard work, took Lucy around the world to the likes of Denmark, Switzerland, Brazil, France, and Mexico. One of her proudest accomplishments was in visiting the three Cristo Reys in the Americas: Rio de Janeiro, Guanajuato and El Paso. Her refrigerator became adorned with pictures of all of her kids and postcards of the places they had been in this beautiful world. She was a proud supporter of her kids and of Marfa schools, celebrating all of their life moments, from elementary Christmas recitals to junior and high school sports, quinceañeras, conferrals of degrees, to births of their own children.
The only team to rival her love of the Shorthorns were the Chicago Cubs. A life-long fan, first tuning in from afar on the radio, then later on the WGN television broadcasts, and in-person to spring training in Arizona, and then she finally visited the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago in 2016, the very year the Cubs broke the Curse of the Billy Goat and won their first World Series since 1908. Go Cubs, go!
Lucy forged her own minor star through the Marfa-based filming of the 1956 classic, Giant. The access to actors and sets allowed to locals gave Lucy opportunities for auto- and photographs that became prized the world over. She appeared in the documentaries including Return to Giant, and Children of Giant, the latter of which further details Blackwell School. Her photographs of James Dean garnered interviews with newspapers including the Times of New York and Los Angeles, and the Dallas Morning-News, and fan mail from Indiana to England.
I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come
The Rosary will be prayed at 7 p.m., Thursday, August 8, 2024, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marfa, where she was a life-long member, holding a vigil Mass for her son Sammy since 1980, and for Glenn since 2014. The funeral will be Friday, August 9, 2024, at St. Mary’s at 10 a.m. Lucila will be interred at the feet of her sons at Merced Cemetery in Marfa on a later date.
Please join our family and friends in celebrating Lucy’s lovely life.
Pall Bearer will be her beloved grandsons and great-grandsons: Aaron Garcia, Dr. Marco Garcia, Jon Michael Fierro, Steven Garcia, Diego Estrada and Sammy Estrada.Funeral services are entrusted to Alpine Memorial Funeral Home in Alpine, Texas. Condolences may be left at www.alpinememorialfuneralhome.com.