ROSALVA PHOEBE ARMENDARIZ BAST LEAL AULENBACHER

1932-2020

Rosalva Phoebe Armendariz Bast Leal Aulenbacher, lovingly known to her family as “Grandma Rose,” went to be with the Lord on October 30, 2020 at the age of 88. She was born on August 30, 1932 to Adelina de la Cerda and Trinidad Armendariz in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico where her father was the pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Church. She was the youngest of 7 children (Eden, Othoniel, Arnoldo, Ada, Sara and Iris Armendariz) and grew up in the church as her father led several Spanish speaking congregations in Mexico and Texas.

On November 25, 1951, she married Jorge Leal in Monterrey, Mexico and they had three children, Irma, George and Louis. After Jorge’s passing, she married Walter Edward Aulenbacher, deceased, on April 11, 1959 and had 3 more children, Walter, Melissa and Margaret Rose.

Rose loved learning and was a graduate of Bastrop High School in Bastrop, Texas, Westrup Commercial Academy, Texas Business College, Texas Real Estate College, and attended the University of Houston as well. She was a gifted writer, event planner, real estate agent, proficient legal and business secretary, librarian, and bilingual medical office manager for two doctors in Houston, Texas. Through the years, she worked for the American Red Cross, the Mayor of South Houston George Christy, Schlumberger, Arco, Phillips Chemical, Control Data Corporation, Pasadena Public Library, and was a personal secretary to investors Peter Maffitt and Edward H. Andrews. She also became a licensed Texas Real Estate Agent in her latter years.

Rose had a zest for life and enjoyed gardening, reading, history, art exhibits, traveling, symphonic music, ballet, and was passionate about genealogy research. She also had a beautiful voice and was fluent in both Spanish and English. She was Vice-President of the Hispanic Genealogy Society in Houston, Texas for many years and contributed numerous articles to their annual Journal. She also led committees in this organization to teach others to read and participated in their dropout prevention program to keep students in school so they could become productive citizens.

Rose was a devout Christian and belonged to First Baptist Church in South Houston, Texas where most of her children were baptized as well as Sagemont Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. She was absolutely adored by her family and they were blessed to call her mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother.

As a young girl coming from Mexico to Texas, she was thrust into an elementary classroom not speaking English. Rose not only learned the language quickly, but excelled in all of her studies. A few years later, she became a young widow with 3 young children. While it must have been difficult, she showed tremendous strength, courage, and perseverance to take care of her family. She eventually married her beloved husband Walter of 48 years, had 3 more children, and loved her family dearly.

Rose instilled in her children the value of hard work, diligence, persistence, and never giving up. It is notable that all of her children and grandchildren received college degrees as well as various certifications, national awards, and advanced degrees, including Doctorate and Law degrees among them. She encouraged her family to strive for excellence and most importantly, to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others well.

Rose was absolutely beautiful, inside and out, and radiated the peace, love, and joy of Jesus Christ. To know her was to love her, and so many people did. She had a wonderful sense of humor and was incredibly kind, loyal, generous, courageous, brilliant, thoughtful, fun, and positive, regardless of the circumstances. Her unconditional love both encouraged our hearts and emboldened our spirits to believe we really could achieve our dreams with God’s help.

Her 6 children, 8 grandchildren, and 2 greatgrandchildren are her legacy and a living testament to her love and witness for Christ. We are so grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to have known Rose as a person and friend and even more grateful to have had her as our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

She is survived by children Irma Rohatgi and husband Rakesh, George Leal Aulenbacher, Walter Edward Aulenbacher Jr. and wife Laura, and Margaret Rose Maddox and husband Roger, grandchildren Roger Rohatgi and wife Heather, Rachel Rose Rainey and husband Ford, Andrew White and wife Audrey, Daniel Cooley and fiancée Blaire Davis, Hannah Cooley, Jack Maddox, Katie Rose Maddox, Michael

Maddox, great-grandchildren Jordan Rohatgi and Skyler Rohatgi, son-in-law James Cooley, daughter-in-law Kimberly Aulenbacher, sister-in-law Blanche Armendariz and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents Trinidad and Adelina, husband Jorge Leal, husband Walter Aulenbacher, children Louis Aulenbacher and Melissa Ann Cooley, siblings Ada Garcia, Eden Armendariz, Othoniel Armendariz, Sara Beck, Arnoldo Armendariz, and Iris Cantu and long-time friend Patrick McDowell.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 3pm at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home with visitation at 2pm. The graveside service will be live-streamed on Facebook at https://facebook.com/ Forest Park Lawndale/ for family and friends unable to attend in person. Rose will be interred at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home, 6900 Lawndale Street, Houston, TX. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to KHCB, a Christian radio station in Houston which ministered to Rose and her family throughout the years.