Irma and Joe Garcia’s four kids resorted to their religion and community when they attended mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, Texas, on Thursday night.
Rev. Eduardo Morales and parishioners welcomed Cristian, Jose, Lyliana, and Alysandra Garcia.
Irma was one of two teachers shot in Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Joe Garcia, the family patriarch, died of a heart attack early Thursday, barely two days after his wife was shot to death, according to his family.
Morales said of the Garcias, ‘they were excellent church-going people, always wanting to assist, always seeing what they could do to be there for the community, not just their kids, and I hope we remember how caring and loving they were.’
Later this year, the pair was set to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
Irma Garcia had been a fourth grade teacher at Robb Elementary School for the past 23 years. As per a biographical page on the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District website, she and her husband had been wedded for 24 years.
She died Tuesday, when a shooter stormed the classroom and began fire, killing Garcia, co-teacher Eva Mireles, and at least 19 students in one of the bloodiest school shootings in American history.
As the Uvalde community continues to recover from the effects of the horrific shooting, spiritual leaders have stepped up to help. After being urged to assist following Tuesday’s disaster, a Lutheran charity has also dispatched trained comfort dogs to Uvalde, a community approximately 84 miles west of San Antonio.
