In Uvalde, town florist preps for daunting task of honoring victims

Baker, 44, picked up a call.

“Flower Patch,” she said from her busy work station. “It’s been a rough morning.”

It’s been a day since a gunman slaughtered 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Live updates from the deadly school shooting in Uvalde

Now, as heartbreak and devastation ripple through the tight-knit community, the florist and her small team are preparing for a daunting task. They must fill a cascade of orders from grieving friends and family members, coordinate with people offering help from across the country and create floral arrangements for the impending funerals and memorials for scores of small children.

“These babies, their lives are gone — and it’s tragic,” Baker said. “And then having to put flowers on babies’ caskets – that’s just something no one should ever have to do.”

Florists from San Antonio, just east of here, and beyond are stepping in to help with the overwhelming demand. People were on their way to Uvalde with flowers in hand.

“The outpouring is insane,” Baker said. “I’ve already had four florists call me and say ‘We’re driving down. We’re just going to donate our time.’”

On HoustonChronicle.com: Uvalde school shooting: What we know about the 21 victims, including 19 kids, so far

Another florist asked Baker what kind of flowers she wanted and told her she’d be there with the supplies after lunchtime. “I said ‘Anything — I’ll take anything,’” Baker said.

The shop was not expected its once-a-week shipment of flowers until Thursday, she said, and they do not have enough flowers to meet the needs of the community.

Typically, the start of summer vacation marks a slowdown for the flower industry, Baker said. A wall-to-wall calendar in her shop marks important upcoming holidays with a red asterisk. There was nothing significant expected between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.

“We weren’t prepared for this,” she said. “Of course, you can’t prepare for this. I don’t have a clue. I just know I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and hope that it’s the best we can do for these families.”

Baker, whose blonde hair was pulled back in a bun as she worked, said she bought the floral shop roughly 10 years ago after leaving a career in accounting.

Mary Frances Zavala, meanwhile, began working at the shop a month ago. It was a dream job, she said, and her teenage daughters loved that she came home smelling like flowers. Still, she was learning even as she pitched in with the unprecedented task at hand.

Baker and Zavala said they heard reports about the deadly shooting on Tuesday through text messages before media outlets began reporting on the massacre. They saw police swarm to the scene.

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Since then, Baker said she has seen the faces of the missing or dead children in wrenching Facebook posts and recognized some of the family’s last names.

“It is such a small town,” she said. “If I don’t know the mom or the dad — I usually know the aunt or the cousin or the grandmother.”

Zavala felt the same way. Eva Mireles, a teacher slain in the shooting, was an acquaintance who went to the same gym, Zavala said.

“She loved to run – she was always running,” Zavala said. “We would see her on the street.”

Zavala said some of her family members are teachers at Anthon Elementary School, located less than 3 miles from the gunman’s destination.

“So you know,” she said, “it could have been any of us.”

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