Yolanda Reyes Allala

She was the best friend anyone could ask for. She was loyal. She was thoughtful. She was selfless. She was one of a kind.

Yolanda Reyes Allala peacefully slipped away from us on the afternoon of November 10, 2024. She was 88 years old.

Born on March 8, 1936, to Ruben Reyes and Olivia Gonzales Reyes, she grew up in the small town of Encinal, Texas. She helped with the Reyes Cafe family business, where she learned to cook and where her love of a good cheeseburger began. Her parents, along with her favorite aunt and uncle, Hermelinda (Mele) and Henry Botello, gave her and her siblings a beautiful life full of music, food, family traditions, and memorable celebrations.

Yolanda met the love of her life, Luis, at Cotulla High School. They were married on April 7, 1958, and soon after moved to Des Plaines, Illinois, where Luis started an irrigation business. Yolanda was integral to the success of the business while raising their 3 children. Through the years, they enjoyed making memories together with their good friends and family, traveling, going to dances, and returning to Texas every winter to the home they built in Cotulla.

All were blessed to have Yolanda in their life.  If she was your friend, she was your "best" friend. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She was quiet, loving and compassionate. She loved the flowers in her garden, especially roses, country music, watching her telenovelas, reading her home and gardening magazines, catching up on the daily news from Chicago on her iPad, and cheering on her favorite teams-The Chicago Bears and The Dallas Cowboys. Most of all she loved her family.

Yolanda is preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Ruben Reyes Jr., Eva Reyes Perez, Mauricio "Wicho" Reyes, and Juventino Reyes.

She is survived by her husband Luis Allala Jr.; her three children, Luis Allala III, Linda Rossi (Tony), Leroy Allala; her grandchildren Lylianna, Luis IV, Lucinda (Alex), Ricky, Gabriella, Easton; and her great-grandchildren, Vida, Isla and Luna.

Words cannot fully express how deeply she will be missed.

Visitation will be held on Monday, November 25, 2024, at Peters Funeral Home from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a Rosary to be held at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Interment will follow at the Cotulla East Cemetery.