Dela Garza

Dela is a charter member (47 years), of her Church, St. Matthew the Evangelist Catholic Church in Northwest Houston.   Dela’s past activities at St. Matthew’s include Bazaar committee, Youth Group Social Chairman, Women’s Club member and President, Prayer Garden Fundraising Chairman, Past Pastoral Council member, Stewardship Chairman for 2 years, Funeral Service Coordinator for 2 years, and former Religious Education Secretary. She is also a seven-year member of the Disciples of Jesus and Mary, where she has led a class through the program. She has also done presentations at their retreats. She currently serves as a Eucharistic Minister and Lector and has continued to be involved in the many activities at St. Matthew’s for 47 years.

In 2014, Dela, along with another church parishioner, organized a new court at St. Matthew’s, St. Angela of the Cross Court #2674. Dela was elected the charter Regent and served in that position the first two years.

Dela started and chaired CDA at the Park, a Day with the Astros, drawing over 750 CDA sisters and their family members in 2016, and 1439 CDA sisters and family members in 2018. This event won awards from State and National in the COL Family Spoke category.
Dela was appointed District Deputy in 2018 and served 3 years as the DD for District 20, working with five exceptional courts.  She has received two St. Bernadine of Sienna Awards for the development of St. Angela of the Cross #2674 (2014) and St. Gabriel of the Annunciation #2747 (2018), where she has dual membership. She is the current treasurer at St. Gabriel.

Dela won first place in the scrapbook contest at convention 2017 for St. Angela of the Cross #2674, and again in 2019 for St. Gabriel of the Annunciation #2747.  Dela has attended all State and National conventions since 2015. In 2017, she  served as a page at the State Convention, and received the State Regent’s Award for Outstanding Service for the CDA at the Park event.   Dela was named one of five top District Deputies in 2019. Also in 2019, she served as the JCDA State Convention Raffle Chair.  Dela was asked to co-chair the 2020 National Convention Appreciation Banquet, which was cancelled due to the Pandemic. In 2021, she served as the co-chair of the Texas State Convention Appreciation Banquet in Texarkana. She has been a member of the Past Regent’s Club since 2015.  

Dela and husband, Chris, have been married for 50 years. They have two awesome grown children, Marc (Fanny) and Natalie (Robert) plus 8 adorable grandchildren, ages 6 to 30.  
Dela was born in Victoria, Texas, the sixth of 9 children. A sixth generation American, she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and a fourth generation Texan, she is a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT).

Dela worked at Deluxe Check Printers for 17 years, retiring from her position as Regional Methods and Procedures Analyst. She has also been a florist at her own shop, Dela’s Gifts and Flowers, and managed a seasonal shop, Santa’s Surplus Store in 1996, which came in fourth in sales in the United States for that year.

Dela’s hobbies are first, her husband, her children, her grandchildren, then charity work (mostly CDA), crafting, shopping, garage sales and resale shops. She likes to stay busy, go see the Astros, watch international soap operas, and Tejano dancing.