02/02/2026
Saying goodbye.
Alvin Joe Svoboda passed away on December 23, 2025. He was born in Wallis, Texas on November 20, 1937 to George and Julie Ann (Supak) Svoboda. The family moved to the White Hall area near Ganado in 1939. He started school in the White Hall School. This and other small schools were consolidated into the Ganado Independent School District in 1947. His parents built a new house in south Ganado in 1947 that became his lifelong home.
He received a home movie projector and some children’s films as a gift when he was a child. He played the films for everyone who would watch them. This interest carried over to the Ganado Theatre which opened in 1941. He became a relief projectionist in 1954, and the main projectionist in 1955, manager in 1973. He leased the theatre in 1977 and managed it as his own business. He purchased the theatre in 1980 and started improving it immediately by adding air conditioning, more comfortable seating, hot dogs, and nachos with cheese.
Alvin was inducted into the army in 1960, did basic training at Fort Hood (near Kileen), and was transferred to Fort Bliss (near El Paso) where he trained on handling and deployment of Nike Hercules missiles. This unit was scheduled to deploy to Germany just before the Berlin crisis arose. The troops, already in Germany, had their time extended for six months to handle the crisis so Alvin’s deployment was cancelled three days before they were to leave for Germany. He was sent to a typing class and became a Company Clerk. His unit was then scheduled to deploy to Florida in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, but Alvin only had 30 days left on his 2-year obligation, so he was not eligible to deploy. The army found a comfortable assignment to consume these 30 days.
Alvin was a bookkeeper at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church from 1973 to 1975. He was also the school bus driver for the Catholic school. He was a devoted Catholic his entire life.
His maternal grandparents lived next to his family’s home. They spoke mostly Czech. Alvin became fluent in Czech, able to read and write in the language. He was a subscriber to a South Texas Czech newspaper, Našinec (“Ours” in English), and was published in this Czech language paper many times over the years. This was the last Czech language newspaper in Texas that was published for 104 years until 2018. Over the years many people brought friends and relatives (visiting Texas from the Czech Republic) to Alvis’s house in need of a translator. He made many lifelong friends that way, and he would get the chance to visit them one day.
Alvin believed in gathering the gifts of nature. He gathered dewberries to make pies, figs and peaches to make preserves, and grapes for wine. He made wine for over 50 years out of anything he could ferment and enjoyed teaching others how to make it. He was a man that shared his wisdom, he never denied knowledge to anyone who sought it. He also made the best Czech style sour kraut. Every January he bought a whole 50 lbs case of cabbage when it was on sale. He shredded the heads after cutting them in half on his ancient family strouhač (“grater”) over the sink. He would add fresh dill and sometimes onions or jalapeños. Some years he made 15 gallons of the smelly but very tasty dish. Before his mom passed in 1998, he had no idea how to cook. After eating frozen dinners for several years, he was motivated to learn. He became one of the best cooks and bakers. His method was always slow and methodical; he never skipped a step. (He often added extra steps!) His favorite pastime was fishing. He would drop everything to go fishing anytime. He freshwater fished mostly for crappie and catfish. He saltwater fished for trout, red fish, black drum, sheep head, and hated hardheads with passion. He gigged flounder while wading in the cold shallow water. He hand-picked oysters and shrimped with his personal boat. He was happiest while fishing.
Alvin took several trips with longtime friend Dr. James Cantu. In 2005, they flew to California and drove up the coast to Oregon. They stopped at almost every scenic ocean view, found a great cheese factory, and drank wine in Napa Valley to end the trip. In 2007, they flew into Buffalo, NY for a visit with friends in Niagara Falls. Alvin saw the Falls from the American side and Canadian side. They also made one of Alvin’s bucket list dreams come true with a visit to the Czech Republic October 2012. He was able to visit the home where his grandfather was born in 1865. He eat an apple from a tree on the property so that a piece of that place would always be a part of him. Alvin was able to visit 4 world capitals as part of that trip: Washington, DC; Prague, CZ; Vienna, AUT; and London, ENG.
He is survived by his sister Charlene Oehl (Marvin), his niece Kristi Mishler (Dan), and three great nieces (Emma, Molly, and Anna Mishler). He is predeceased by his parents and nephew Mark Oehl.
Services are Saturday, February 7th and will include a viewing at 10 a.m., Rosary at 10:30am, and funeral mass at 11 a.m. all at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Ganado, TX. Interment will follow immediately at the Assumption Catholic Cemetery. A gathering of remembrance and celebration of Alvin’s life at the Ganado Theatre will follow the burial. All are welcome. Bringing a dish or snack to the theatre is encouraged.
