Norma Benavides Cole

Norma Benavides Cole, 74, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and loving caregivers on May 30, 2024. Having lived a life rich in friendship and generosity, she will live on in the people whose lives she touched.

Norma was born in Laredo, Texas on November 21, 1949, to Arabella Laurel Benavides and Armando Benavides. She graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1968 and continued to Laredo Junior College before attending the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1972. She then proceeded to Tulane University and the University of Houston, where she graduated with a Master of Social Work in 1976.

Upon earning her licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Norma worked with La Clinica de Consulta Familiar, the counseling branch of the Chicano Training Center in Houston, TX. She worked in bicultural and bilingual client care, a novel model of care which emphasized culturally responsive counseling and social service delivery for Mexican-American clients. After moving to Arlington, TX, in the early 1980s, she worked as a behavioral health counselor with United Way of Fort Worth. She also served at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the Graduate School of Social Work and the Undergraduate Office of Recruitment, where she impacted many students' lives with her teaching and advising. She was also on the team that developed the UTA on-campus daycare center in the early 1990s. Her spirit of giving went beyond her employment, with time spent volunteering in the Arlington community, and her passion for helping others extended into retirement with many hours of volunteering at Arlington Memorial Hospital.

Norma is preceded in death by her spouse: Richard L. Cole; her parents: Armando and Arabella Laurel Benavides; brother: Jorge Luis Benavides, and nephew: Jorge Luis Benavides, Jr.

Honoring Norma’s legacy in this world are her children; grandchildren; siblings: Arabella (Gerald) Benavides Stone, Patricia (Lauro) Benavides Garcia, Maria Margarita (Huey) Benavides, Armando Benavides, and Sergio Gerardo (Anna L.) Benavides; nieces and nephews; as well as many other relatives and friends.

A Memorial Service will be held June 23, 2024, at 10:00 AM at Grove Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 3920 Samuell Blvd; Dallas, TX 75228, with interment to follow at Grove Hill Memorial Park. A reception will follow the interment.

A Memorial Mass in her honor in Laredo, Texas will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2024, at 11 am, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. The recitation of the Rosary will commence at 10:30 am. Condolences will be received by the family from 9:30 am to 10:30 am at the church. Memorial luncheon will follow the mass at the Parish Hall. 

Those wishing to show appreciation for Norma’s life are invited to make a heartfelt donation to the charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.grovehillfuneralhome.com for the Cole/Souflee/Benavides family or at www.hillsidefuneral.com.

Services have been coordinated by Grove Hill Funeral Home (Dallas, TX) and Hillside Funerals & Cremations (310 W. Hillside Rd, Laredo, TX 78041; 956.724.6060).