Rella Lou Alvarez

A private family funeral service for Rella Lou Alvarez, 92, of Rockwall, will be held at the Wilson-Orwosky Funeral Home Chapel.
Interment will follow in Pilgrim Rest Cemetery #1.
Mrs. Alvarez died peacefully on March 27, 2020. She was born on September 27, 1927, in Ginger, Rains County. She was the only child of Clifford B. Allen and Hattie Allen, née Bridges. Mrs. Alvarez is a fourth-generation Texan, and spent her youth on the farm of her kind and loving grandfather, W.R. Bridges, near Emory. During World War II, she moved to Dallas with her mother and grandmother, where they contributed to the war effort by working in area defense plants.
She attended Forest Avenue High School in Dallas. She naturally took to a career in the beauty business. She worked for many years as a hairdresser and manicurist in several of Dallas’ finest salons, including the downtown Neiman-Marcus. She often joked that she received her college degree from the University of Neiman-Marcus. Mrs. Alvarez enjoyed fine clothes, jewelry, dancing and nights out on the town. She was gracious, generous and beautiful.
Mrs. Alverez loved her children, reading, her cats (all cats), music, gardening and chocolate malts, not necessarily in that order. She also liked to travel and always looked forward to the yearly, family vacations, especially to the mountains of Colorado. She was interested in history, especially as it related to her family and the development of our great nation. In 1643, her eighth great-grandfather, David Crawford, came to the Jamestown colony from Scotland and in 1692, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. She was a proud member of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.
She is survived by her loving husband, Jose A. Alvarez; her devoted son and caregiver, Sol Villasana; daughters, Connie Bickel and husband James, and Rella Rogers and husband Mike, all of Rockwall; and a grandson, Ari Rogers of Fort Worth.
She was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband of 50 years, Louis Villasana.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) at www.aspca.org.