Laredo paralegal Diega Elizabeth Mata, 58, a longtime member of the Laredo legal community, died December 9, 2020. She was the third-born child of María Luisa and Manuel Mata. She is survived by her sisters San Juanita I. Diaz, Elodia Treviño, and María Luisa Camara, and her brother Manuel Mata Jr. She was predeceased by her sister Norma Idalia Morales.
Liz grew up in the neighborhood called Siete Luces near the intersection of Santa María and Taylor. She attended Farias Elementary, Christen Jr. High, and Martin High School.
Mary Lou Camara
My sister Liz was protective and always stepped up for all of us.
She was well known as a hard worker in law enforcement and in the legal community. She had worked for the District Attorney, the Webb County Sheriff’s office, and the Laredo Police Department in the capacity of supervisor for LPD 911 dispatchers. As a paralegal, she worked for attorney Manuel Flores and most recently for attorney George Altgelt.
Her avocation was as a baker of beautiful cakes made from scratch. They were legendary and delicious. They pleased many in our family and in the community.
Frances Baiza
Liz Mata and Frances Baiza
My Aunt Liz pretty much raised me and my two sisters with my mother, Mary Lou, a single mother. We had been living in Nashville, and when peril visited our family, she immediately booked flights to get us to San Antonio and then home to Laredo.
She was fierce. She loved deeply and hard, family first.
She had a huge heart and a big personality. She was very particular about how she wanted everything.
In every way possible she made sure we knew she loved us. She always believed in me. That was just one of the gifts she shared with us.
Rochelle Treviño
(Left )Liza Mata and Rochelle Treviño, (Right) Liz Mata and Elodia Treviño
My Tía Liz was one of a kind. She loved me and showed me her love in her own unique way. I will always be grateful for all she did for me and my family.
When this brave woman fought her final fight, I was fortunate to be the person who accompanied her in the last moments of her life.
She was an independent woman of inner strength and resiliency, and a role model for selflessness and loyalty. I will always remember our roads trips, our talks, our getaways, and shopping sprees, but above all, I remember what I learned from her, her endearments, and her unique expressions of love.
One of them was, “Ti amo, niña!”
George J. Altgelt
Liz Mata and George Altgelt
Diega Mata, or Liz, as most of us knew her, is one of the best examples of someone who didn’t just believe, but rather knew, that God pulled her spirit from the cosmos and gave her a human form for the purpose of helping and loving those that crossed her path.
Liz was a full time paralegal at our office from 2013-2018 and then off and on until the time of her passing.
In times of struggle, whether internally or vicariously through our clients, Liz’s perception of whether I was worried about something was always spot-on. She would say, “Te veo preocupado, what’s bothering you, G (her nickname for me).”
I would lament about the weight of the world, my client’s courtroom struggles, or some political chicanery at the city. Her response was always the same. She would hold my hands and close her eyes and break into prayer, saying “God, we put Mr. Client’s problems before you for divine intercession. We know that this law office is an instrument of your peace and justice, we know you will give George the right thoughts, words, and actions so that your will be done. In Jesus’ name, we declare it.” She would then say, “Ok… what else?” — implying that the issue was resolved and that intercesión was done. She would then give me the warmest of hugs and get back to whatever she was diligently working on.
If you knew Liz, then you knew her faith. She would always pray over all of us. Sometimes she would pray over our clients.
She baked the best cakes from scratch, and she had impeccable taste in ties.
A more dedicated, hard working, kind/caring paralegal… one would be hard pressed to find.
She is loved in the legal community. She had a personal contact in every judge’s chambers, from justices of the peace to the federal bench, the DA’s Office, LPD, and the Sheriff’s Office.
Recent conversations would occasionally end up on the topic of the pandemic. She was fearless. She was quick to remind us that the day that the good Lord decided to come for her, she was ready. Liz knew that she had a special place reserved for her in heaven, and for those lucky enough to know her and watch her gentle hand in service of others, you also know that she is now among the angels, praying over us all now more than ever.
María Eugenia Guerra
Liz and I were the walking wounded a few years back — she with Lupus, me with cancer. Even as she dealt with the terrifying, life-changing circumstance of losing her sight and her balance for about a year, it was she who comforted me with kindness and solace in the long discussions we had about life — the verve of it, the blessed precious gift of it, how we were dealing with being sidelined from it.
I have a vision of the apparition we must have presented at that particular table in that particular breakfast taqueria on Saunders that we frequented — the spry gone from our steps, pallor where good health had been, but so much yet to convey to each other in conversations in which hope edged out fear. Ours were cupsful of coffee brimming sometimes with tears and always with love.
