School named after veteran educator

(Photo by Nayelli Quiroga)

SAN BENITO MEMORIES

Angela Gerusa Leal was born on January 5, 1923 to Justice of the Peace Joe Gerusa and his wife Rosa Weaver Gerusa.

Judge Gerusa was also a successful farmer in Los Indios, and Angela was the third of four daughters.
Angela’s life was good until her circumstances dramatically changed when he was around 10-years-old. That’s when Angela’s mother was diagnosed with a serious illness.

At that point, Judge Gerusa made the difficult decision to put his four daughters into private school, the Methodist School for Girls in Pharr, Texas.

It was a traumatic experience for the young Angela who was surrounded by a loving family, but it helped her develop the self-confidence and determination that stayed with her the rest of her life. After her mother recovered, Angela returned to Los Indios.

She briefly attended San Benito High School and graduated from Weslaco High School, where she and her sisters were the first Mexican American members of the Weslaco Marching Band. Angela married the love of her life, Edio Leal on March 26, 1944, with her father presiding over the civic ceremony and the religious ceremony held at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in San Benito. The couple traveled to Houston for their honeymoon.

Shortly afterward, Edio enlisted to serve in the military during World War II. While Edio was away, Angela attended Texas Southmost College in Brownsville, and majored in education. Due to the shortage of teachers during the war, Angela was asked to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. At the age of 19, she began her teaching career. She had students ranging from 6-19 years in age.

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