Laura Renee (Mesa) Gripka was born in Bisbee, Arizona and raised by her parents, D.N. (Candy) and Esther Mesa. She was born on Thursday April 23, 1964 and attended Greenway Elementary with her life-long friend, Jackie. Her father worked in the copper mines and when the mines closed in 1974, he began working with MHSA (the Mine Safety and Health Administration) in Rolla, MO. She attended St. Patrick's School where she met additional life-long friends Fran, Cindy and Erika. She graduated from Rolla High School in 1982. Laura volunteered and then worked at the Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla as an aide, a Physical Therapy Assistant, and the senior citizens in-care facility Activities Coordinator. She was very active in the St. Pat's Catholic Church Newman Center for the University of MO-Rolla and enjoyed the choir and the comradery and met her future husband, Patrick, when his friend Timothy dragged him along one day. When her father retired and her parents moved to Carlsbad, NM, Laura stayed in Rolla for a while before eventually moving to Carlsbad as well.

Pat and Laura decided on a long-distance relationship and finally decided to take the plunge for better or worse and were married on May 30th, 1992 in St. James, MO in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church by Father Charlie Pardee as St. Pat's was under renovation at the time. Laura moved to Port Arthur, TX where Patrick worked for Texaco. They finally made their home in Port Neches where Ashley was born in 1994 soon followed by Sean in 1996. They moved to Spring, TX in 1997 when Patrick took a job with CRI in The Woodlands, TX. Christopher was born in 1999 and the subsequent years were filled with kids' school, events, sports, and a busy family life.

Laura always loved Bingo. Her father was a long-time caller, and her parents went almost daily. Laura played bingo in Port Arthur and played at various bingo halls in the Spring and Conroe area where she met many dear friends. Laura was diagnosed with colon cancer in October 2019 and put up one hell of a fight, but in the end lost her battle on Wednesday August 12, 2021 while at home surrounded by her husband and children. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Vickie and her brothers Fred and Ronnie. She is survived by her husband Patrick, their children Ashley, Sean and Christopher, her brothers Jerry and Candy, her sisters Michelle and Esther, and countless friends and family whom she loved dearly. May she rest in Peace.

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