Sally Foster Gonzalez
July 27, 1956 – November 13, 2022
Sally was called home by our Divine Father on Sunday, November 13, 2022; she was 66 years young.
“There are no words” has been the common refrain from family, friends, and people that knew her, words that never rang truer. We are devastated by Sally’s sudden and unexpected death.
Sally was my best friend, my rock, my soulmate. We were high school sweethearts. Just a couple of days ago, she joyfully wished me a Happy Anniversary!” as it was the 11th of November, 50 years to the day of our first date in 1972. Sally always had a ready smile, a twinkle in her eye, and an enthusiastic “Hi” for everybody. Lord, how I’m going to miss the first words she spoke every morning, “Good morning, Hon!” She wasn’t perfect, but you couldn’t wish for a kinder, gentler, loyal, and more genuine friend. Ever the optimist, she was a steady stream of light and positivity (borne from her Catholic faith) during the darkest of times.
Sally never met a stranger. It was as if you’ve known her all your life after spending just a few minutes talking to her. She was an open book, what you saw was what you got, straight up and real. Forgiveness is a process they say, but for Sally it was relatively quick and absolute; she just couldn’t stay angry or hurt very long. Forgiveness was in her DNA. It was the secret sauce of our 44 years of marriage.
To our children, Sally was a devoted mom. She was our children’s guiding light, their sounding board, their shoulder to lean on. Our children could always count on her to lend a sympathetic ear, to share loving words of encouragement and comfort and, on occasion, she would go so far as to offer unsolicited advice much to their annoyance; she was a problem-solver after all. She was never happier nor did she ever beam brighter than when she was surrounded by “all my Chickens” as she lovingly referred to our girls, Sarah and Catherine, and our boys Bill and Matt, and our adopted girls, Leslie, our daughter-in-law, and Cori, Matt’s partner. She did a wonderful job raising our children and sowed close relationships with each of them.
“There are no words” to describe how much she meant to each of us and how much she will be missed. She often said jokingly that ‘if she died nobody would know what to do.’ Damn! Truer words have never been spoken. We are all better people for having known and loved her. While we will never know why our Lord reclaimed Sally so soon, we have no doubt that Heaven will be a better place now that she is Home. Until we meet again. I Love You Sally! We Love you Mom!
Sally is reunited with her mom and dad – Elizabeth Kowalski Foster and John (Jack) E. Foster; sister – Alice Agnes Foster; brothers – Edward Louis Foster and Stephen Mackin Foster; Father-in-Law – Guillermo E. Gonzalez, Sr.; Sister-in-Law – Cynthia (Cindy) Gonzalez-Jasso.
Sally’s memory lives on in her husband – Dr. Guillermo (Memo) E. Gonzalez, Jr.; daughters – Catherine Nicole Gonzalez and Sarah Elizabeth Gonzalez; sons – Guillermo (Bill) E. Gonzalez, III (Leslie) and Matthew L. Gonzalez (Cori); Mother-in-Law – Blanca E. Gonzalez; siblings – John (Jackie) J. Foster (Millie), Elizabeth (Junie) Foster, Dorothy (Dody) Foster, and Susan Foster, Sister-in-Law – Magda Foster. Nieces and nephews – Kevin J. O’Connell (Edith), Kelly Goedicke (Victor), Edward (Wayo) L. Foster Jr. (Kimberly), John Hall Foster (Ana Ceci), Stephanie Carrillo (Danny), Thomas J. Foster (Caitlin); Brother-in-law – Gerardo (Kelly) E. Gonzalez (Flor). Nieces and nephews – Flory Gonzalez Severino (Tom), Gerardo (Kelo) E. Gonzalez, Jr. (Norma), and Austin Jasso. She will also be missed by many, many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 21, 2022 at San Agustin Catholic Cathedral where a Rosary will begin at 9:00 am and the Holy Mass at 9:30 am with an Inurnment following to the Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
Donations: In lieu of flowers we invite you make a donation to the Alpha1 Foundation: https://www.alpha1.org/, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital at st.jude.org/, or Shriner’s Children’s Hospital at https://www.shrinerschildrens.org/en.
Funeral arrangements are by Fred Dickey Funeral & Cremation Services, 1320 Trey Dr., Laredo, Texas 78041 (956) 723-3611. For your convenience, you may leave your condolences to the family online at www.freddickey.com