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Lucy A. Garcia brightened the lives of family and friends in San Antonio and South Texas for 85 years. Her light flickered off Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. Lucy Alarcon was born Sept. 3, 1923, in San Antonio to Maria Rebecca and Gustavo Alarcon before the family moved to Laredo, where Lucy attended middle school. When her family returned to San Antonio, she attended San Antonio Vocational and Technical High School, graduating in 1942 as a member of the National Honor Society. During World War II, she worked as a gyro-instrument mechanic at Kelly Air Force Base and volunteered as an air raid warden. After the war, on Jan. 5, 1947 at Christ the King Church, she married her "honey," Henry S. Garcia, a returning Marine to whom she had taken a shine in elementary school. She worked as a library technician at the Academy of Health Sciences at Fort Sam Houston, studying at night at San Antonio College to earn her associate degree in applied science in library technology in 1970. Retiring from Fort Sam Houston in 1980 after 33 years of service, Lucy volunteered for innumerable civic and community causes, including the Little Church of La Villita where she volunteered and then worked for many years, St. Luke's Catholic Church, the Archdiocesan Catholic San Antonio Deaf Community, the Institute of Texan Cultures, the Leon Valley Library and Los Leones, the Leon Valley Arts Festival. She also pursued a late career as a movie extra, appearing--briefly--in the 1997 biopic "Selena". To meet her was to make a friend. Lucy was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Santiago Tijerina, and is survived by Henry, her husband of 62 years and partner in most of her civic pursuits, of Leon Valley; son Sam and daughter-in-law Joyce of San Antonio and their children Samantha of Chicago and Steven of San Antonio; daughter Norma and son-in-law Akihiko Shirotori and their children Seijin and Kohwa of Chikusei, Japan; and daughter Becky and son-in-law Jim Cullen of Manchaca, Texas. Lucy also is survived by sister Rosa Alarcon and brother Gustavo Alarcon, both of San Antonio, and many nieces and nephews. The family thanks the staff of Vitas Hospice Care, which provided excellent care during the last days of Lucy's life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Lucy's memory to Vitas Hospice Care, 8109 Fredericksburg Rd, 3rd Floor, San Antonio 78229. SERVICES Visitation will begin at 5:00 PM Monday, March 2, 2009 with a rosary to begin at 7:00 PM at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 1:00 PM Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at St. Luke's Catholic Church with interment to follow at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery.

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Lucy A. Garcia

September 3, 1923 - February 24, 2009