Liberato Felix Jr.

LIBERATO FELIX, JR. EDINBURG — Liberato Felix, Jr., 83, died and joined our heavenly Lord, Friday, December 26, 2014, at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, Texas. Originally, from San Luis de Cordero in the state of Durango, Mexico, he was born to parents, Liberato Felix Sr. and Francisca Calzada on February 23, 1931. He made his way to the United States during the mid-1950s, where he joined the Bracero Program as a contracted laborer; a program implemented by the U.S. to compensate for the shortage in agricultural workforce. The Bracero program started during WWII and lasted into the Korean War. Liberato remained working as a laborer on various ranches then became a legal resident. He found love, married Josefina Espinoza, and had four children. He started a self-employed landscaping business in which he worked for nearly forty years for the many prominent residents in the McAllen area. He eventually became a naturalized American citizen in 1999, a dream come true. His wife, Josefina Espinoza Felix, precedes him in death. Liberato is survived by his four children, Liberato Felix, III, Carolina (Benjamin) Felix Ethridge of Edinburg, Agustina Felix, both of McAllen, Jesus (Donna Bline) Felix of Austin; two grandchildren, Eliza Ethridge of Edinburg and Julian Felix of Austin. Memorial service will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 30, 2014, at Memorial Funeral Home Chapel, 208 E. Canton in Edinburg. Funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 31, 2014, at Our Lady of Sorrows, 1108 W. Hackberry in McAllen followed by interment of his ashes at La Piedad Cemetery, 1801 Wichita Ave, in McAllen, Texas. Funeral services are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in Edinburg.