Obituary of Margarita "Margaret" Alba

Margarita (Margaret) Alba

Our beloved Margaret Alba, age 106, of San Antonio, formerly of Austin, was called home to our heavenly Father on Saturday, October 25, 2023. She was born on the Alba Ranch in Dripping Springs, Texas, on October 9, 1917.

Visitation will be held on Friday, November 10, 2023, beginning at 10:00 a.m., with Recitation of the Holy Rosary at 12:00 p.m., at Mission Funeral Home Serenity Chapel, 6204 S 1st Street, Austin. Burial will follow at Assumption Cemetery. 

Services will be live-streamed to allow those unable to attend to participate.  Follow link to Facebook Live Mission - South Side

Margaret is preceded in death by her parents, Felipe Alba, and Constancia Acosta Alba; her siblings, Irene Navarro (husband Roberto), Evelyn Alba, her only brother Phillip Alba (wife Paulina); and her nephew Robert Navarro.

Margaret attended Austin High School in Austin, and when she graduated, she attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos (1940), now Texas State University. She received her Master’s in teaching from the University of Texas in Austin. She began teaching in the mid-1940s in Del Rio, Texas where she had a long career.

Margaret contributed much to the Alba Ranch historical marker approved by the Texas Historical Commission in 2018. During her oral history interview, she shared many rich memories of the Alba Ranch and her grandfather, Victoriano Alba who first bought land in Dripping Springs in 1903. The Alba family would own nearly 1,000 acres in Dripping Springs, would donate land for a school, and were founding members of the St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.

Margaret is survived by her nephew Keith Thomas Navarro (wife Faith) and their 2 children Elizabeth Navarro-Shultz, and Zachary Navarro and his children, Everette, Qwynn,and Tobias; her cousins, Juanita Tapia, Felipa Alba Sustaita, Gracie Rosalez, Frank Alba, and numerous other cousins; her special friend and caretaker, Mary Ester Aleman; her great niece Gina Alba Rogers; and other great nieces and nephews, and other loving family and friends.

Service is under the direction of Mission Funeral Home, 6204 S. 1st Street, (512) 444-3355.