Felicitas “Telma” Martinez
May 22, 1944 – May 5, 2026
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10
Brownsville, Texas — Our beloved mother, grandmother, woman of deep faith, prayer warrior, and keeper of stories, Felicitas “Telma” Martinez, entered eternal rest on Monday, May 5, 2026, at the age of 81. She was born on May 22, 1944, in Hebbronville, Texas, to José and Corina Zuniga, the fifth of eight children, and was raised in the warmth and close-knit culture of small-town Texas. Telma was a dreamer – kindhearted, funny, fiercely competitive, and held to her convictions.
From a very early age, Telma was very observant of everyday life. As a young girl, she remembered witnessing a beautiful angel in the kitchen – that calmed her anxious fears and set the course of her faith.
Telma graduated from Hebbronville High School, where she was a good student, a cheerleader, and a competitive basketball and volleyball player. She was also a self-proclaimed “tom-boy” growing up, bragging that she was faster and more competitive than any girl or boy who would challenge her. This was one of the reasons she went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas. She possessed both the mind of a student and the heart of a teacher. While teaching in Port Isabel, she met and married Angel N. Martinez Jr. of Brownsville. She had a long teaching career with Brownsville I.S.D. – El Jardin Elementary, Egly Elementary, Stell Middle School, and Perkins Middle School.
Faith was the axis around which Telma’s entire life turned. Telma provided a firm, Christ-centered foundation for her two children – Angel and Claudia. She was a devoted and longtime member of International Christian Center (ICC) in
Brownsville, Texas, where she poured herself out in service for many years. She taught children’s Bible lessons with patience and joy, led an adult women’s Bible study group, and served faithfully and fervently as a member of the church’s Intercession Prayer Group. To her fellow Prayer Warriors at ICC, Telma was a cornerstone. Her prayers were persistent and powerful. Her presence was steadying. With a quiet authority that came from decades of walking closely with God, she knew that praying is the answer.
Like her beloved sister Margarita before her, Telma carried the great Zuniga gift of storytelling. She could light up a room with a story from her childhood, find the humor buried inside a hard memory, and leave her listeners both laughing and quietly moved. She loved her family with her whole heart and cherished time spent with her grandchildren – Gabriel, Joseph, Benjamin, and Lauren – who were the joy and delight of her later years. She was the kind of woman whose absence would be felt not only at family gatherings, but in the ordinary Tuesday mornings when you reach for the phone to tell her something, and then remember.
Telma is preceded in death by her beloved parents, José and Corina Zuniga; her dear sisters, Teresa Villareal and Margarita “Maggie” Barrera; and her brothers, José “Chicho” Zuniga and Alejandro Zuniga.
She is survived by her devoted husband, Angel N. Martinez Jr., of Brownsville, Texas; her son, Angel Martinez III (Jennifer Reed-Martinez) of San Antonio, Texas; her daughter, Claudia Demo (Terry Demo) of Edinburg, Texas; and her cherished grandchildren: Gabriel James Martinez, Joseph Asher Martinez, Benjamin Angel Martinez, and Lauren Elizabeth Demo. She is also survived by her sisters and brothers: Antonia (Carlos) Gutierrez, Adriana (Hector) Rivera, and Rogelio (Sylvia) Zuniga; along with numerous nieces, nephews, and a wide circle of family and friends who will carry her love and her stories forward.
In lieu of flowers, the Martinez family invites loved ones to honor Telma by making a donation to the Felicitas “Telma” Martinez Scholarship fund at Baptist University of the Americas. Your giving at the link below supports future pastors and leaders answering God’s call: www.donorbox.com/telmamartinez.
Celebration of Life Services
Funeral services will be held at 10 am on Monday, May 11, 2026, at Sunset Memorial Funeral Home in Brownsville, Texas. Interment will follow at 1:00 p.m. at Rose Lawn Memorial Gardens, where she will be laid to rest. The family warmly invites all who knew and loved Telma to come and celebrate a life beautifully, faithfully, and fully lived.
Services are under the guidance of Sunset Memorial Funeral Home, Crematory & Flower Shop. 657 Springmart Blvd., Brownsville, Texas. (956) 350-8485.
“She was a teacher and dreamer who never stopped believing,
and a woman of God who prayed as if lives depended on it —
because she believed they did.”
In loving memory of Felicitas “Telma” Martinez
Hebbronville, Texas 1944 – Brownsville, Texas 2026
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