Memorial Mass
Good Shepherd Catholic Church-
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1065 E. Live Oak
Schertz, Texas 78154
1922
Andrea
2018
Andrea Castaneda
February 4, 1922 — November 17, 2018
Andrea Cortez Castañeda passed peacefully into the hands of the Lord on November 17, 2018, on the same date and week day and almost same hour as her beloved husband, Frank Macias Castañeda, eleven years prior.
Known to many as Ann, she is survived by her sons: Paul Eugene, Robert Lee and wife Olga, William (Bill) Gregory and wife Lisa;
grandchildren, Melissa Vanderberg and husband Marc, Roslyn, Anthony and wife Brandi, Margarita Castañeda ; great-grandchildren, Christian and Myles Vanderberg. She also leaves behind nephews and nieces: Jessie Saldaña and wife Rose Marie; Jimmy Saldaña and wife Dora; Rose Mary Saldaña Klimek and husband Randall; Terry Milton Armstrong and wife Morna, and Sandra Armstrong.
She was preceded in death by her parents Pedro Cruz Cortez and Margarita Cisneros Cortez; her husband, Frank Castañeda; sisters Martina Cortez, Frances Saldaña, and Ofelia Armstrong Stewart.
Andrea was born on February 4, 1922, in San Marcos, TX. Andrea's life was remarkable in so many ways. She grew up during the Great Depression when so many families, like hers, were struggling to make ends meet. She quit elementary school after an instructor pushed her into the river during a swimming class. She went to work cleaning homes and ironing clothes to help out her family. As a young adult Ann lived with her friend Kate Pineda (known to all now as "aunt" Kate) while working in a department store in Austin. It was in Austin that she met Frank. They were married on February 12, 1945, while he was serving in the Navy during WWII. She joined him in Spokane, WA. From there they traveled cross-country by train to his new assignment at the shipyard in Brooklyn, NY. When his tour of duty ended, they returned to Texas and re-settled in San Marcos to raise a family. Many years later, as Frank approached retirement from civil service at Randolph AFB, the couple moved to Schertz in 1978 with their youngest son, Bill.
Ann continued to work in department stores and in later years as a church and hospital volunteer. She loved posing with her sisters in fashionable hats. She also loved to sew, making and altering dresses, making quilts and costumes for the grandchildren. She had a wonderful sense of humor, an infectious laugh, and loved to hum along to music on the radio and at her son Paul's concerts. She enjoyed car rides into the Texas countryside, visits with relatives, and vacations in the US and Europe. She was a strong woman who managed the household alone during the Vietnam War when Frank and the two oldest sons were serving. She was always thankful to God for everyone's safe return home. During the five years of her husband's terminal illness, she also dealt courageously with breast cancer. She loved her family and friends and always thanked them for their kindness, even to her last day as a resident at the Schertz Rehab and Long-term Care Center. When attendants would help prepare her for the day, she would thank them with kisses on the backs of their hands. She was known by many at the home as a "sweet lady".
Looking back on their life, she and Frank were always proud of her sons' achievements: Paul as an editor and assistant registrar at the University of Texas at Austin and as a violinist with the Austin Symphony Orchestra; Robert as a decorated Marine during the Vietnam War and as an investigator with the Texas Department of Public Safety; and Bill as Naval Academy graduate and USN officer, as a college-level instructor and tutor, and government contractor.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, December 12, at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Schertz, located at 1065 E Live Oak Road. Ann will be interred in a private ceremony at Ft Sam Cemetery, alongside the remains of her husband Frank. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in her name to the National Breast Cancer Foundation https://donate.nationalbreastcancer.org/
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To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Andrea Castaneda, please visit our flower store.
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