Olga Arellano

Olga Lopez de Arellano went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, December 19^th, at the age of 93 of natural causes. She was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico on June 21, 1930 (or possibly 1928), the sixth of ten children born to Jose G. Lopez and Ana Maria Padron. Olga came to faith in Christ while attending Iglesia Presbiteriana Principe de Paz, the Presbyterian Church across the street from her house. She and the eight siblings that lived into adulthood were very close all their lives, and she would often quote Psalm 133: 1 in reference to her family: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” In 1960, she married Jose Guadalupe Arellano (Lupito) who lovingly nicknamed her, Chapis (short for chaparrita/shorty). More recently, most knew her as Ita (short for abuelita/grandma), which is what her loving grandchildren called her. In the 1970’s she moved to Brownsville, Texas and became very active at the First Baptist Church, where she translated the weekly sermons, participated in Evangelism Explosion, and taught the pastor Spanish for several years.

Although her mother was widowed at the age of 33 and had nine children, the family overcame many hardships and most went on to earn college or higher degrees. Olga went to a boarding school in Taft, Texas, close to her father’s birthplace. She learned English there so quickly that she was transferred to the local public high school and graduated as salutatorian.  Despite her mischievous nature, her principal believed in her enough to make the long trip back to Matamoros to convince Olga’s mom to let her use one of the scholarships she received to earn a college degree. Her mom only allowed her to stay four semesters but, in that time, she learned many of the tools she needed to build her school, Instituto de Lenguas Lopez Padron. What started out as English tutoring for a few friends grew into a renowned, 3-year technical school for executive bilingual secretaries. Such was her success that, to this day, she is lovingly referred to as “La Teacher” not only by her ex-students, but by most of the community.

More important than her career accomplishments, Olga will be remembered as a caring, humble, fun-loving, selfless person who loved to invest herself in young people’s lives. She was the mom who would pack up her kids – and any cousins who wanted to join – and take them to the beach, the pool or the park, where she would enjoy watching them play. She would also often hold out a helping hand to her relatives, acquaintances or even someone she barely knew. Above everything Olga loved her Lord, Jesus and valued laughter, humility, music and education. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jose Guadalupe Arellano, her nine siblings, Abelardo Lopez Padron, Jose Angel Lopez Padron, Jose Alberto Lopez Padron, Oralia Lopez de Martinez, Ana Maria Lopez Padron, Alicia Lopez de Reyes, Ofelia Lopez de Sibaja, Obdulia Hower, and Manuel Lopez Padron, plus two infant children and several cousins, nieces and nephews. She is survived by three children, Leticia (Patrick) Johnson, Iliana (Anthony) Moninski and Alberto (Mayra) Arellano, several grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. We in the generations that follow are blessed if we continue in the path that she has modeled for us.

A memorial service will be held at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 7320 Steep Hollow Rd, Bryan, TX, 77808, on Saturday, 12/23/2023 at 2 pm.