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Starr County woman creates memorial wall for veterans at San Isidro cemetery

Starr County woman creates memorial wall for veterans at San Isidro cemetery
1 day 20 hours 38 minutes ago Monday, November 11 2024 Nov 11, 2024 November 11, 2024 6:46 PM November 11, 2024 in News - Local

A new memorial wall is up in Starr County to honor veterans at the Hilario Alvarado Cemetery in San Isidro. 

The J.L Alvarado Veterans Memorial Wall was paid for by a woman in the community whose relatives started the cemetery.

Marcela Solis Peña said Veterans Day is personal for her family, as her relatives come from a long line of veterans.

“My husband was buried here, he served 30 years in the military,” Peña said. “And my brother-in-law's here, and then I realized Tio Lino, our only uncle, [is here too].”

Peña’s uncle opened the San Isidro Cemetery in 1966.

According to Frank Alvarado, the cemetery was open to all. 

“Anybody in the community that couldn't afford a burial, they were welcome to use it at no cost,” Alvarado said.

Peña said that legacy of community inspired her to put up the memorial wall that honors the many veterans buried at the cemetery.

She said she’s spent the last six months working to have the wall ready for Veterans Day, and that her husband’s memory kept her going. 

Jose Adan Farias, who has several relatives buried at Hilario Alvarado Cemetery, said the memorial wall will honor not only his parents and grandparents, but veterans for generations to come.

“Most likely, our relatives will be buried here. And some in the future, of course, might be veterans,” Farias said. “And we have a place to put them here on the wall."

Watch the video above for the full story. 

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