Armando L. Garza

Armando L. Garza was born on August 9, 1948 in Brownsville, Texas. He passed away at the age of 72 in San Antonio, Texas on December 28, 2020. He is preceded in death by his parents, Carlos and Francisca Garza. Armando is survived by his loving wife of fifty-two years, Norma Linares Garza; daughters, Leslie Bradley and Christina (Paul) Griffith; sons, Armando David (Terri) Garza and Richard Garza; brothers, Carlos and Paul Garza; Sister, Femi Delgado; and grandchildren, Lynwood Garza, Alex Bradley, Brett, Aaron, Julianna and Ericka Griffith, Maria, Karolina, Armando, Gabriel and Ivan Garza. He will be held close to our hearts and will be missed tremendously. Armando graduated from St. Joseph Academy in 1966. He received his B.S. in Meteorology from Texas A&M University in 1971 and began his career with the National Weather Service in 1972. In the early 80's, he returned to Texas A&M and completed the course work for a master’s degree in 1983. Mr. Garza has worked at many offices in several NWS regions. He retired as Meteorologist in Charge (MIC) in Shreveport in 2013; was MIC in Corpus Christi from 2003-2005; MIC at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City from 2001-2003; and MIC in San Diego from 1995-2001. Before that, Armando was the Science and Operations Officer at the Weather Forecast Office in Honolulu from 1993-1995 and was also occasionally assigned as Acting Director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. He served as the Regional Aviation Meteorologist at the Southern Region Headquarters (SRH) in Fort Worth with program management responsibility consisting of the aviation, fire weather, and satellite programs from 1986-1993 and was the Regional EEO Chairperson during that time. Other assignments included forecaster at New Orleans and San Juan, a resource meteorologist at the Center Weather Service Unit in Houston, a Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Memphis, and Intern in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Garza worked for the National Weather Service for 42 years and during that time he received numerous awards including modernization awards for his work in the early 1990s; Special Act Award for his leadership role in Hawaii, a Bronze Medal in San Diego for work during the El Nino years of 1997-98, and the Director's Regional Equal Employment Opportunity Award in 1997. In 2000 he received an Administrator's Award for development of a dual language video entitled: "Flood Warning Systems - Saving Lives and Property''. In 2002, he was awarded the Aviation Weather Services Team Award from Southern Region Headquarters and the National Award from the Aviation Services Branch and received an additional "Administrator's Award" for his work with the FAA. In 2007, Mr. Garza accepted the Bronze Medal Award for WFO Shreveport's superior performance during Hurricane Rita which impacted Louisiana in 2005. In 2007, Mr. Garza received the Southern Region Director's Award for Customer Service. Mr. Garza has also authored and presented numerous papers at professional meetings and conferences throughout the country. Fluent in Spanish, he has also written and presented papers at international conferences in Australia, Argentina, and Mexico. His interest in equal employment opportunity and diversity in the workplace has been a career long passion, and his active involvement in three different regions has helped him achieve satisfaction in the steady improvement that has occurred for equality and fairness in the workplace during the past three decades.
In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation in honor of Armando Leal Garza to the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. The donation link is found at: Donate to the American Stroke Association - American Heart Association.