Ramona Gearld, 72, of Greenville, died at 1:15 PM, Thursday, April 9, 2015 from Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH Disease). Since this disease has affected not just her but other family members, she chose to donate her body to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for research.
She was born May 27, 1942 in Los Angeles, California to Trinidad & Catalina Ybarra.
She is survived by her sister, Lucy Aguero of Downey, California; three sons, Richard Gearld and wife Diane of Whittier, California, Ray Gearld and wife Kathryn of Fort Worth, Texas, Marty Magaña and wife Martha of Chula Vista, California and one daughter, Dawn Hall-James and husband Larry of Greenville, Texas. She had 11 grandchildren, Andrea Gearld-Bodine and husband Lee, Ryan Gearld, Abigail Gearld, Ashleigh Hall, Shannon James, Chris James and wife Ashleigh, Stuart James, Sebastian Magaña, Celina Romero, Jose Romero, Zachary Wolak, 6 great-grandchildren and several cousins, nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, Mary Flores, Lupe Aguero, Ron Ybarra, Julie Magaña; son in law, Scott Hall; grandson, Christopher Hall.
Ramona grew up and lived in Los Angeles, working for the Los Angeles Unified School District until she moved to Texas in 1978, where, as she put it, "...came to meet Jesus." She worked for the Texas State Hospital in Vernon and then served as the Children's Librarian for the City of Vernon Carnegie Library. She also worked for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Library in Dallas before moving to Greenville in 1999. She recently retired as the District Receptionist from the Greenville Independent School District after 16 years of service.
She dearly loved her children/grandchildren, her family and friends. She felt everyone she met was her extended family. She believed that God graced her with so many blessings in her life that giving back to the community and taking care of the children around her was something she was passionate about. It was her pleasure to help the families of the Greenville ISD purchase school uniforms when they weren't able to afford them. Volunteering and helping others was something she very much enjoyed.
The Memorial Service will be at 4 PM on Monday, April 13, 2015 at the Coker-Mathews Funeral Home, 5100 Interstate 30E, Greenville, Texas. Ralph Sanders will be officiating.
In lieu of flowers or gifts the family has requested that memorial donations be made to the local Altrusa Club. The monies will be used to purchase standardized dress clothes/uniforms for those students in need that attend Greenville ISD. This will become an Annual Service Project for the Altrusa Club. Memorial contributions may be made to Altrusa of Greenville, PO Box 115, Greenville, Texas 75403.