Eusebio Villarreal

Eusebio Gonzales Villarreal, 84 of Elgin, passed away Friday, March 5, 2021. He was born on March 5, 1937, in McDade, Texas to José María Villarreal and Julia Gonzales Villarreal. He was baptized and confirmed Catholic.

Eusebio grew up at the Butler Brickyard and lived in Elgin all his life. He attended elementary school in Elgin. He worked at the Butler Brick Yard until enlisting in the United States Army June 11, 1956.  After basic training at Fort Bliss, he was deployed to Germany.  However, he was not about to leave until he asked Augustina “Tina” Gayton for her hand in marriage.  When he returned, they were united in Holy Matrimony on November 23, 1958, at Guadalupe Catholic Church in Taylor, Texas.

After returning from service overseas, Eusebio learned carpentry skills and worked in new home construction. Several years later he became a business owner, E.G. Custom Painting. In 1984, he began working for the University of Texas at Austin where he retired in 2000. He continued his military service with the National Guard until his retirement in 1986.

Eusebio was an active member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He was a member of the Sociedad del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús and the Knights of Columbus. He was a chairman of the Annual Church Fiesta in 1981. He also liked to organize barbeque fundraisers. He and Tina volunteered to prepare and serve breakfast on Sundays. In his retirement he lent his carpentry skills to building booths for the Church Fiesta.

His civic involvement included being the first Hispanic Post Commander at the Elgin VFW from 1982 to 1983. He and Tina often volunteered preparing and serving breakfast at the VFW on Memorial Day. He also served as board member of the Elgin Latin Cemetery and helped organize and participated in clean up days.

Eusebio and Tina along with Neal Pfeiffer and Frank and Leticia Martinez held a 40+ year tradition of hosting a Good Friday fish fry. He loved going to dances with Tina and listening to conjunto music. He was an avid reader and felt it was important to teach his children about the history of Mexican Americans in Texas.  He always kept up with current events and enjoyed discussing it with his family. He loved barbequing and watching his favorite college football team - the Longhorns.

He put his family first and foremost in his life.  He opened his home to family when they needed a place to stay. There were many weekends or after work hours where he helped family members with home repairs.

He is preceded in death by his eldest son, Eusebio Villarreal Jr.; his sister, Pauline Gonzales Villarreal; and both his parents.

He is survived by his loving wife Augustina “Tina” Gayton Villarreal; daughters, Augustina “Tina” and her husband, Adrian Rangel, Patricia Turner, and Graciela Monica and husband Philip Goetz; his sons, Joseph James Villarreal and Fabian Eusebio Villarreal; nine grandchildren, Sondra Rangel, Jacob Rangel, Leandra Turner, Philip Turner, Aleshia Villarreal, Moranda Anderson, Anastasia Aguilar, Joseph James Villarreal Jr. and Walter Goetz; 15 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; his sister, Frances Gonzalez;  and brothers, Cristino Gonzales Villarreal, Joe Gonzales Villarreal, Elpidio Gonzales Villarreal.

He will lie in state at Elgin Funeral Home, Sunday, March 7th from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM.  Celebration of Christian Funeral Mass and Christian Burial will be private.