Maria Teresa Oliva Guerrero, 71, of Perryton, passed away on February 24, 2025. Memorial services will be on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at Foursquare Gospel Church in Perryton. The vigil will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, February 27, 2025 at Foursquare Gospel Church, 821 S. Colgate St., Perryton. Cremation arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Home, Inc. of Perryton, Texas.
Born on April 25, 1953, in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico, Teresa was the daughter of Olivia Ontiveros. She spent her youth in Hurley, New Mexico and pursued on to High School in Bayard, New Mexico, then continued her education in Perryton, Texas where she later met and married Juan Oliva.
Survivors include her children, Enrique Oliva, Marycela Oliva Hill and Jose Torres; two sisters, Manuela (Nellie) Westfall, Susie Najera (husband Luis); one brother, Frank Cordova (wife Gloria); one granddaughter Tiana Hill; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Teresa loved life and loved to laugh. She loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and wanted to share the following: “ I wish for my ashes to be scattered on a hill and the wind to further spread them out and somehow bring life to things like flowers.
I want my legacy to be that I knew Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and my desire is for this generation to share the gospel to the next generation.
My faith has given me hope to move forward in my journey and I feel like if I didn’t have my faith then I probably would have blamed God and ask why I was going through this – but instead, I have God’s peace!” As she was talking about her ashes being scattered and bringing other life and beauty, I told her that there is actually a Bible verse that talks about God giving a crown of beauty instead of ashes in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:13).
Then an article was found that said, “ The scripture says God wants to give you beauty for ashes, but you can’t receive the beauty if you don’t give God your ashes. Give God your hurts and pains and then open up wide so that you can receive the beauty He has in store for you” – author unknown.
Teresa’s presence will be deeply missed by all who knew her. We have been blessed to have known such a remarkable mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and friend.