Cecilia Sánchez Moreno

EducationBecoming the Beloved CommunityPoder del Pueblodirectory-1
Written By Miguel Rodriguez

Cecilia Sánchez Moreno, President of Margil Elementary PTA, 1965. Courtesy of Beatrice Moreno

“She pretty much knew our neighbors either through her connections at both of our schools, at church, and from those who shopped at the various Mom and Pop grocery stores, the two family owned drug stores, etc. Sometimes, she just called the city department heads letting them know what was happening; and that she would appreciate if someone would come by to see her so that the problem would get resolved as soon as possible. This was all while we lived on the Westside.”
— Beatrice Moreno, daughter of Cecilia Sánchez Moreno
“Mom would walk with petitions to repave some of the streets, rebuild sturdier bridges over the creeks that bordered our two schools, allowing children safer passage back and forth while attending school. Many of the children had to walk through mud and stagnant water left over from flooding caused by seasonal rainfalls when the wooden bridges were swept away by the strong currents.”
— Beatrice Moreno, daughter of Cecilia Sánchez Moreno

Neighborhood and education activist

1914–2006

Beatrice Moreno, daughter of Cecilia Sánchez Moreno, shares the following remembrance about her mother:

A devout Catholic, Mom’s connection to St. Agnes parish at 804 Ruiz Street began in 1942 after she married my father, Gonsalo Moreno, and moved to his neighborhood in the Westside of San Antonio — our new home was now at 113 San Martin Street in the Gardendale neighborhood. My Mom's deep faith sustained her throughout her entire life. Whenever uncertainty arose, she always maintained a positive attitude saying “God has a plan, we’ll be fine.” In our family, regular attendance at the church’s weekly Sunday Mass was at the top of what she considered being a responsible church member; but more importantly, her parental duty. As I said... her faith was a given. She led by example. She taught us our basic prayers before we even went to school! We were all five children baptized as infants; made our first Communions and even our Confirmations before becoming adults. Even though not attending Catholic school except for their first year, all the children attended Catechism classes once a week on Wednesdays after school.

Her direct involvement with St. Agnes’ elementary school program began in September 1951, when I was enrolled in first grade. As a member of the parish, she was always ready to help out at the annual Festival in various roles. The Guadalupana’s annual fundraiser during the “Jamaica” was their Mexican plate sale. Mom would always provide enough Mexican rice for those plates. Her cooking sometimes totaled the contents of several large roasters of Mexican rice. Once all was ready to transport, my Dad would then load up the car with her delicious contributions. Arriving there, Mom would join the others already there to make up an assembly line to serve the individual plates.

Mom was an active champion of the underserved. Her “outside the home” commitment was family first, then Church by practicing a very strong faith, and then actively bettering our Community. My siblings and I also led very active extracurricular lives while in school and attended catechism classes once a week after school. I was in the school’s choir, CYO (volleyball and softball), Brownies and Girl Scouts.

One of the neighbors who lived on San Martin did not speak English. The widow had five children. She took in ironing clothes, while her eldest son worked at a small auto repair shop. Not really a picture of grand success; but they had a roof over their heads and clean clothes for the children to go to school.... At the time, the government provided various dried goods, butter and cheese on a monthly basis to assist families to subsidize their groceries. One day my Mom saw the kids playing in their backyard. She thought they were throwing wheat flour from open paper sacks at each other. Mom went over to talk to her neighbor. The lady explained that most of the dry goods products the government provided were useless. There were no directions as to how to prepare and use these foods.

My Mom invited her to come over to our house on more than several visits. Mom showed her how to prepare a number of dishes with the dried goods items the lady had been throwing away. Utilizing the powdered milk, powdered eggs, dry chocolate milk mix, etc. increased the nutrition in their meals. My mother wrote the recipes out for her in Spanish. She gave a set of measuring spoons and cups to simplify making the recipes. And... the new nutritious dishes being introduced benefited the entire family by changing their eating habits to provide better health.

Mom taught some of our neighbors to cook or bake peaches, figs, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, plums and pecans from their yards into new dessert dish recipes. Much would go to waste when the owners got tired of eating their fill and left the rest on the trees to fall on the ground. Like her mother before her, Mom would send homemade beef broths, vegetable or chicken soups as “recovery” remedies over to whoever she learned was under the weather. No questions asked; but much appreciated. Knowing that there might be time when she might need such a remedy too. And, when least expected, one would arrive at her front door cheerfully delivered.

Mom attended monthly PTA meetings at the two elementary schools, Margil Elementary public school (where my sisters went) and St. Agnes (where I went). She considered this important enough to become a member of each organization. Monthly tuition for one student at St. Agnes was $10.00/monthly. I really never realized what this monthly fee did to our family’s budget. Back in the 1950’s it was quite a sum for a family to have to pay each month. Most children in our neighborhood went to public school, mainly because it was tuition free. Especially with only the father being the only one working outside the home. My father was the sole breadwinner, yet... my mother was a brilliant “finances” manager.

She was a firm believer of voting in all available elections. She was not one to sit back and let someone else speak for what she believed in.

She learned about the living conditions of the Westside when she first came to live there. Her experiences were completely different from where she grew up. Back in the 1950s the Alazan Creek would overflow seasonally whenever the rains came and last for a number of days. Some of my most vivid memories was of the firemen waking up our neighbors in the middle of the night and getting them out of their homes to safety. Our home was on higher ground, therefore never experiencing flooding in the yard. My Dad and uncle would go out to help with bringing families living directly south of us on Leal Street to our house for safety. We had a spacious two car garage with a cement floor and electricity connections. Mom would get us up. She would immediately organize us to take out blankets, towels, folding chairs and even several cots to the garage to greet those that were coming over. She would put on the large urn coffee maker and start the coffee. If the stay was over several hours, we would make flour tortilla tacos filled with either scrambled eggs, or refried beans or potato and eggs, whatever was on hand. Even though the situation was a very serious one, our garage was filled with many conversations of past happy times shared with each other as neighbors. The kids were kept busy and distracted by participating in vocal games such as riddles, or guessing what animal you were describing, or what tune you were humming. Once the flood waters started receding, the visitors would start going back to their homes. They would return to their houses to see what could be salvaged and to start cleaning out their homes.

We loved her dearly for all of the many things she taught us. The joy she shared with all who came in contact with her especially her children and her husband. She and my Dad celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and a few more memory-making years together before he passed away. They loved each other very much. We were witnesses to their caring and loving ways throughout their lives. Her energy! She could draw circles around all of her children and never seemed to tire out. When I first saw the “Energizer Max” bunny seen in the battery commercial, (in her own way without the addition of batteries) Mom had endless energy.

She would always teach us by example and show us how important certain things were: maintaining our homes (inside and outside) showed we were proud of our homes, but also the neighborhood we resided in. We should be proud of ourselves; share what we learned and what we were taught; being polite to all we encountered, especially our elders; respecting those we might encounter; loving and remaining in close contact with family; establishing and practicing our deep faith; being positive in our attitudes; “do onto others” before being asked to do so! She would always tell us “God gave us eyes to see, ears to hear and brains to decide the right way to solve a dilemma.” “There is no shame in asking for help." "Two heads are better than one.” Enough said. All of you understand how we were taught to handle life. She passed away at the age of 93. I still see her in many instances as the encouraging teacher she was.

My Mom’s eldest sister was 100 years old when she passed away. Her youngest sister was 95. Her two other siblings, a middle sister and her brother, were in their late 80’s. Up to now at 75 years old, I am supposedly going to live at least another 25 years! Whatever the future holds in store for me, I’ll gladly continue following in my mother’s footsteps. Trying my best to emulate her. God has blessed me with good health. Mom enriched our lives by instilling in us a strong faith, but an even better upbringing.

  • Gonzalez, Gabriela. “Carolina Munguía and Emma Tenayuca: The Politics of Benevolence and Radical Reform.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 24, No. 2/3, Gender on the Borderlands (2003): 200-229.

    Munguía Family Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin.

    Orozco, Cynthia E. "MUNGUIA, CAROLINA MALPICA," Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Accessed July 16, 2020. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmusq

 
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