Rella Alvarez

A private family funeral service for Rella Lou Alvarez , 92, of Rockwall, will be held at the Wilson-Orwsoky Funeral Home Chapel in Emory. Interment will follow in Pilgrim Rest Cemetery #1.

Rella Lou Alvarez peacefully passed away on March 27, 2020. Rella was born on September 27, 1927, at Ginger, Rains County, Texas, the only child of Clifford B. Allen and Hattie Allen, nee Bridges. A fourth generation Texan, she spent her youth on the farm of her kind and loving grandfather, W.R. Bridges, near Emory, Texas. During World War II, Rella moved to Dallas with her mother and grandmother where they contributed to the war effort by working in area defense plants.

Rella attended Forest Avenue High School in Dallas. She was glamorous and took naturally to a career in the beauty business. Whether as a hairdresser or a manicurist, she worked for many years 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. Needless-to-say, Rella liked fine clothes, jewelry, dancing, and nights out on the town. She was gracious, generous and beautiful.

Rella loved her children, reading, her cats (actually, any cats, including hobo 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. Rella was also 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.

Rella was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband of fifty years, Louis Villasana, of Dallas. She is survived by her loving husband, Jose A. Alvarez, her devoted son and caregiver, Sol Villasana, daughter Connie Bickel and her husband James, daughter Rella Rogers and her husband Mike, all of Rockwall, Texas, and a grandson, Ari Rogers, of Fort Worth, Texas.

Rella will be buried at a private, family service at Pilgrim Rest Cemetery near Emory, Texas.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; www.aspca.org).