For over 57 years, Yolanda Hinojosa was a private piano teacher in Edinburg, Texas. She cultivated her passion for music through her studies at Washington University; The University of Texas in Austin; The Royal Academy of Music in London, England; and the Saint Louis Institute of Music in St. Louis, Missouri. Throughout the course of her career, Yolanda enriched the lives of hundreds of young, eager musicians in the Rio Grande Valley. Her teaching method was precisive and unique, as she required students as young as 7 to participate in theory instruction and aural skills training.
Yolanda was passionate about God's Word, which was evident through the long-standing Bible study she held in her home for close to 40 years. The greatest gift she gave her children and grandchildren was the model of reading Scripture daily.
Yolanda passed away Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in the morning. She was born in Pharr, Texas to Ernesto Chapa and Otilia Pena Chapa. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 57 years Ted Hinojosa, Jr., and her sister Grace Arredondo.
Her legacy includes: son, Dr. Theodore "Ted" Hinojosa, III and his wife, Petra; grandson, Joshua David Hinojosa and his wife, Christina; great-granddaughter, Abigail Hannah; great-grandchild, expected arrival January 2020, all from Heidelberg, Germany; daughter, Tanya Masso of Edinburg; son-in-law, James Kevin Masso of Dallas; granddaughter, Ginger Faye Gilhooly and her husband Dr. J.R. Gilhooly; great-grandsons, Caleb Coldiron and Carson Steele; great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Marie, all living in Cedarville, Ohio; and grandsons, James Kevin Masso II and Jake Wilmot Masso, both of Dallas.
She is survived by a sister, Marina Fenwick Cheatham; sisters-in-law, Minerva Ritchie and Idalia "Lala" Hinojosa; brother-in-law, Hector Hinojosa and his wife Clara of Richardson; and brother-in-law, Narciso Hinojosa and his wife Bertha of Dallas.
A gathering will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 12, 2019, followed by an 11 a.m.
Celebration Service at First Baptist Church, 201 East Samano in Edinburg, Texas.
Funeral services are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in Edinburg.