Alva Marie Greenwood

Mercedes - Alva Marie Greenwood, 92, passed away on February 22, 2020, at The Gardens at BrookRidge in Pharr, Texas. Marie was born on March 14, 1927, in Deadwood, Texas. At age 6, her family moved to Texarkana, Texas. Following graduation in 1944, Marie attended North Texas State Teachers College in Denton, Texas. Following college graduation in 1948, Marie moved to the Rio Grande Valley and began her teaching career at Mercedes High School, where she taught English and Speech for parts of the next six decades. It was in Mercedes that she met her husband, Charlie. They married in 1951 and spent most of their sixty years of marriage in Mercedes. Marie loved her community and participated in many city and school activities. She was particularly active in the First Methodist Church in Mercedes, where she and Charlie sang together in the church choir and participated in many church activities for over fifty years. Marie will be remembered as a great teacher, neighbor and friend, and as a kind and loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Frederick Greenwood, parents James and Nola Watkins, brothers L.C. Watkins and Carl Watkins, sister Frances Pearce and nephew Cecil Allen. Left to cherish her memory are her son Jim Greenwood (Sherry) of Weslaco, daughter Linda Greenwood of Mercedes, grandson Wade (Kristy) Greenwood of Austin, and granddaughters Kelly (Adam) Holman of Austin and Mandy (Jeff) Hartman of Chesapeake, Virginia. Marie also had five great-grandchildren: Hudson, Bryce, Emery and Ava Hartman of Chesapeake, Virginia and Ethan Holman of Austin, as well as a great-niece Dorianne Moss of Palo Alto, California. The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at The Gardens at BrookRidge for their loving care of Marie and all of the great physicians who cared for her. Visitation will be from 6:00 to 9:00 pm on Monday, March 2, 2020, at McCaleb Funeral Home of Weslaco. Church services will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday, March 3 at 10:00 am at the First Methodist Church in Mercedes. Burial will follow at Ebony Grove Cemetery in Mercedes.