Maria Isabel Paysse

Maria Isabel Paysse passed away peacefully on April 6, 2025, at her residence surrounded by her loving family. She was 79 years old. (she would tell you not a day over 29) 

Maria was born on May 24, 1945, in Galveston, TX to the late Rudy Martinez and Isabel Martinez. She graduated from Ball High School with the class of 1963 and received her bachelor's degree in education from Sam Houston State University followed by a master’s in education.  On December 17, 1966, she married her late husband and high school sweetheart, Henry E. Paysse Sr.  Together they raised their two children Nikki and Henry Jr.  Maria dedicated her career to public education in the Galveston Independent School District as a kindergarten teacher, impacting countless students and coworkers.  Maria won the teacher of the year award for Galveston Independent School District but more importantly won lifelong friends in her co-workers and parents. She retired from GISD after 37 years of dedicated service. 

Maria was never a shy person, with several of her friends calling her “A One of a Kind.”  She was a devoted wife, mother and a wonderful grandmother to her 4 grandchildren.  Always trying to attend all her children’s and grandchildren’s events and happily taking her grandchildren as long as she could get them, whenever she could get them. This love of being with her family drove her from her love of living on Galveston Island to moving with her husband to Cypress, TX to live closer to her children and grandchildren.  In her retirement, she loved to travel with her husband, family and friends.  Her love of her family & friends, her boisterous persona, and an adventurous personality were evident in all that she did.  A constant jokester, you could ask her age, and she would forever tell you 29 and holding.  If you ever asked her, how was she doing, she would reply, “I’m Adorable and Precious as ever,” thus receiving one of her many nicknames, Maria “the Adorable.”  

Maria is survived by her daughter Nikki Samuelsen and her husband Scott, her two grandchildren Haley Nicole and Hannah Marie Samuelsen, her son Henry Paysse Jr. and his wife Abigail and her two grandchildren Lily Elena and Rose Marie Paysse. 

Visitation will be held on Saturday April 12, 2025, from 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. at J. Levy and Termini Funeral Home.  Funeral services will follow beginning at 11:00 A.M. in the Joseph Levy Memorial Chapel with Deacon Robert Standridge officiating. At the family’s request there will be no graveside service. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association: www.alz.org.

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