Before her death in January, Ursula Elias dreamed of a new home for her family and four children. Thanks to a Texas builder’s generosity, her dream came true this week.
Icon Custom Builders of El Paso chose the Elias family as winners of a new home giveaway. Elias' widower, Osvaldo Elias and his four children — Dalilah, 10; Mariah, 9; Osvaldo Jr., 8; and Angel, 5 — toured their new three-bedroom home for the first time on Wednesday.
Ursula Elias was 27 when she died from cervical cancer on Jan. 25, 2016.
Osvaldo Elias said Ursula's aunt, Priscilla Ramon-Juarez, told him a week ago she had nominated his family for the 1,475-square-foot home.
"I wasn't expecting this. It's been difficult losing my wife but all these nice people have been a blessing to me and my kids," Osvaldo told the El Paso Times. "It's beautiful and I want to thank everybody that helped build it and Icon."
Ursula’s grandmother, Maria Elena Ramon, said the new home was “a blessing from Ursula from heaven.”
"I'm very happy because she wanted a house for her children” she told the El Paso Times. “They were looking for a better place and then she got sick."
Carlos Garcia, who owns Icon Custom Builders with his wife Juanita and has been in business for 12 years, said they interviewed five finalists from more than 100 entries. They said they were touched by the story of the Elias family.
The builder even furnished the home, including bunk beds for the children.
"This specific family — we felt like we were impacting four small children and a dad and grandma and we felt pretty bad about them losing their mom," Garcia told the El Paso Times.
Ramon-Juarez said she was happy to be able to be a part of her niece's dream.
"I promised her she didn't need to worry," she told the El Paso Times. "We would be here always for her babies and they would never long for love and we would provide as best as we could. So this is like the perfect opportunity."
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