Beloved mother, wife and teacher, Valeria ("Val") Mary Yanta Ebeier, age 99, passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 9, 2020, ending her extraordinary life.  After graduating salutatorian from high school, Val left the family ranch to be the first in her immediate family to go to college, taught for 30 years and raised a family of 8 with her husband of 55 years.

Val was born in Runge, Texas, on March 14, 1921, to John Andrew Yanta and Mary Magdalen Pollok Yanta at their family ranch, their only daughter and oldest of eight children.  She attended Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio and graduated from Texas A&I University, in Kingsville, Texas; receiving her degree in Home Economics. Val loved teaching, starting her 30-year career teaching Home Economics at Palacios High School. She subsequently taught at Kenedy Elementary, Dellview Elementary, Castle Hills Elementary and Larkspur Elementary. At Larkspur Elementary in San Antonio, Val was given the Teacher of the Year award in 1982 and retired from her teaching career there in the North East ISD on May 21, 1984. She volunteered her time to tutor students in reading and math after her retirement.

She met the love of her life, Gerard ("Jerry") Ebeier, who died January 3, 1999, in Victoria, Texas, in 1943 when the bus she was traveling on broke down and passengers were asked to wait at the local USO. When Jerry saw her walk in the room, he told friends, "there is the woman I am going to marry." He was a very lucky man in that Val's bus broke down where it did!

With her entrepreneurial husband, Jerry, they worked together to create and run businesses such as the Runge Theater, the San Marcos King Drive-In, the Karnes Theater, as well as the International House of Fragrances in San Antonio.

Val was very proud of her Polish heritage and was a 3rd generation Polish-Texan whose family had farmed and ranched the same land since the 1850s. The first Polish pioneers in Texas, her ancestors help found the oldest Polish community in the US, Panna Maria, Texas. In 1974, Val, her mother and her brother, then Father John Yanta, traveled to Poland to meet relatives and learn more about their family ancestry.

Our extraordinary mother of eight, Val is predeceased by her daughter, Jan Ebeier Gallo, and survived by her children: Gerard J. "Sandy" Ebeier, Jr.; Pat Koch (husband David); Carol Myers (husband Fred); John Ebeier (wife Gayla); Dr. Mary Kay Osborn (husband Joe); Valarie Bennett (husband Paul); and Robert Ebeier (wife Lynne); and 15 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren.

Of her siblings, she is predeceased by her brothers: Edwin Yanta; Ernest Yanta; Fabian Yanta; and Vernon Yanta.  Her living brothers include Joe Yanta and Wilfred Yanta as well as the Bishop Emeritus John W. Yanta, formerly Bishop of Amarillo, Texas.

As an active member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church for 58 years, Val was part of the Altar Society and The Assumption Seminary Group.

MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

In lieu of flowers please send any donations to the following charities:

The Polish Heritage Center in Panna Maria, P. O. Box 28125, San Antonio, Texas 78225,

https://polishheritagecenterusa.org/ ;

Holy Spirit Catholic Church, P. O. Box 460729, San Antonio, Texas 78213;

St. Anthony Parish, 111 W Arenoso St., Runge, TX 78151;

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, PO Box 831074, San Antonio, TX 78283.

We graciously thank Sundara Senior Living in Round Rock, Texas, for the love and care our mother received there in the last 10 months of her life, as well as her home caregivers of the past 10 years. Her caregivers were her constant and steadfast companions and friends in all aspects of her life and became part of her extended loving family.  We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for all their devoted support and compassion.

FUNERAL SERVICES

A private family Rosary and Mass will be held on Friday, August 14 ^th beginning at 9:30 a.m.  Val's friends and family members can view the funeral service online at http://cloud.mediafusionapp.com/mf/ebeier.html