Gloria Martinez Diaz was welcomed into the arms of her Heavenly Father on January 15, 2019. Born March 5, 1948 in Tamaulipas, Mexico to parents Claudio and Victoria Martinez, Gloria was raised in Monterrey, Mexico. She began learning about the art of hairdressing at fifteen years old and it became a lifelong passion and career. As a young woman Gloria moved to the United States, initially to San Antonio, TX then to Houston, TX.
Gloria met her husband Rodolfo at a New Year’s Eve dance on a blind date orchestrated by her client and friend, Rodolfo’s sister, Consuelo Diaz. Rudy and Gloria began dating immediately after, and enjoyed dining and dancing in downtown Houston, their favorite location being the historic Rice Hotel. They were married in Houston on July 15, 1977. Together they had two daughters, Brenda and Nancy. Gloria put aside her career to raise her daughters and loved being a mother. As a mother of young children, she was wonderful at telling imaginative stories and singing Mexican nursery rhymes to her girls. She was gifted with the ability of memorizing long poems and would recite them for her family.  As a family of four they often traveled back to Monterrey and she enjoyed spending time with her mother and siblings there, talking and laughing and cooking together. As her daughters grew, she was always involved in their activities at school and sporting events. She loved and protected her girls fiercely until her last breath.
Gloria was extremely creative and participated in flower arranging and cake decorating, and was a wonderful seamstress often making adorable dresses for her daughters and their dolls. Gloria continued to love music and dancing throughout her life. With her daughters becoming adults, Gloria returned to work as a hairdresser, spending hours learning new techniques and styles that had changed with time. She worked long and hard and eventually owned her own salon in Sugar Land, TX, where she was well known for her glamourous up-dos. Through her work she made deep relationships with her clients and co-workers. When her daughters married, Gloria was a radiant mother of the bride and proud of the sons she gained. Gloria was ecstatic to become a “Grammy”.  She showered her grandbabies with love and would sing them the same songs she learned as a girl. Always one for holding on to special items, she loved joining her grandchildren at play with carefully stored toys that held special memories of her daughters’ childhood. Gloria was deeply spiritual and was a member at her neighborhood church for many years, often using her creative talents to help decorate the church by making elaborate banners and arranging the Christmas Nativity. She especially loved attending the Spanish services later offered despite beginning to feel the limits of her illness. Even as her illness robbed her of so much, seeing her husband, children and grandchildren would always bring a smile to her face. Gloria lamented not being able to be the wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend that she wanted to be, and fought against the difficult disease longer and harder than anyone imagined possible. Though our hearts are broken we are comforted in knowing that she is now healed and renewed, and able to dance again in Heaven.
The family would like to acknowledge and thank the hospice nurses and caregivers that made it possible to continue to care for Gloria in their home. Rudy was not only a wonderful husband but dedicated caregiver, and she was surrounded by love and family until the time of her passing.
Gloria is survived by her husband Rodolfo Diaz; daughter Brenda and son-in-law Juan Anaya of Pearland, TX; daughter Nancy and son-in-law Steven Parkhill of San Dimas, CA; grandchildren Reagan Parkhill, Isabella Anaya, Isaac Anaya, and Brooklyn Parkhill; siblings Maria Luisa Martinez Carbajal, Jesus Hector Martinez, Juana Maria Martinez Adame, Rosalba Martinez Solis along with their spouses, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.  She was preceded in death by her parents.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday January 26, 2019 at 2:00pm in the chapel of Crowder Funeral Home in Pearland, TX with a continued celebration of life among family and friends following the service at the Anaya’s home.