Died December 16, 2020.

Mesilla Elementary School, Mesilla, NM

Educational Assistant

Local news:

Administrators and staff at Las Cruces Public Schools are grieving the loss of a longtime educator who passed away Wednesday from complications related to COVID-19.

Gloria Garza, 55, worked as an educational assistant at Mesilla Elementary for over 20 years.

Garza primarily worked with preschool children in the deaf education program at the school. In the summer months, Garza was a dedicated volunteer at the Mesilla Recreation Center, working with children of all ages, the school district reported in a news release.

“Miss Gloria was a large part of our school family,” said Amanda Castillo, principal at Mesilla Elementary. “She knew all of the children in Mesilla by name and was always there to help students or teachers with anything that they needed. This is a tremendous loss for our school community and the generations of students in Mesilla whose lives were greatly impacted by her.”

Garza is the third educator in the district who has passed due to COVID-19. Damacio Bernal, 64, died on Oct. 26. Bernal retired from LCPS after 29 years of teaching and later returned as a substitute. Sylvia Garcia, who began her career at LCPS in 1991, passed away on Nov. 29 at the age of 60.