Obituary of Juana Galvez Garcia

Jennie Garcia was born on July 30, 1930 in Tampa, Florida at home by a midwife.  Many years later she was renamed when her daughter’s first born tried to say abuelita at 2 years old which came out as "Gita". From that point on everyone knew Jennie as Gita.  She had a younger brother, Robert Noriega who she loved dearly and helped her mother raise.  As a child she entertained the Cigar rollers with stories when she went to work with her mother.  At 15 she moved to New York City because her father was transferred for work, she was so home sick from her hometown that she loved and a year later moved back to Tampa. As a young lady she was quite the pianist, playing in various recitals and performances in Tampa and New York City. She loved music her entire life and would constantly be found playing a beautiful tune on her keyboard or piano.

In 1950 she graduated from Hillsborough High School and met Joseph Garcia through his younger sister Vilma. They stayed in contact through letters during the Korean War while Joe served in the Air Force.  Throughout their letters and notes they fell in love and on January 17, 1954 they were Married. They had one daughter "Joni " a year later.

They lived the early part of their marriage in Tampa in a neighborhood with relatives nearby. Then in 1962 Joe received a promotion that required them to move to Miami.  In the early days they road together in the same car. Dropping Joni off to school then Jennie to work and Joe would repeat the trip back after work. The family had one TV despite the fact that Joe worked at the biggest TV Appliance distributors in the area and they would spend their evenings watching TV as A Family. She is Pre-deceased by her husband Joe, mother America and brother Bobby.

Jennie worked in factories and eventually ended up making medical devices. She was a shift supervisor the last 10 years at Johnson & Johnson in the Cordis heart catheter division. She helped build pump sprayers for medical devices in Miami Lakes for 27 years and worked in the same building during that time, except for a short trip to Haiti to train her replacement.

In the 70’s she loved playing softball, riding her bike through the woods, and going to the beach. She was always athletic and would try anything. Her Daughter Joni was always the apple of her eye, and Joni felt the same way about her mother. From the beginning through her retirement they were inseparable and always together.

She had three grand children Courtney , Amanda and Richard. She felt blessed and was very proud to be a great grandmother.  She adored her great grandbabies and enjoyed babysitting and playing with them. She would get down on the floor and play any game any time and never grew tired. The girls loved her and I Know will miss her very much.

Jennie loved animals and enjoyed the company of her favorite dog "Kylee" a small Brussels Griffon that adored her as well. She loved food, gardening and was an amazing cook.  She collected orchids and would care for them daily as they hung under the bottle brush tree off the back patio. She was often in the Kitchen helping her daughter and cooking her favorite Hispanic Recipes Arroz con Pollo, Ropa Vieja, Picadillo, Black Beans and Rice and Paella to name a few…  She was a very strong independent woman that never let not even  even the hardest things in life get to her. Jennie had an enormous heart, she loved to take care of people and always looked to the good in someone.  You would never find her talking poorly of anyone as she most often spoke words of kindness.  She valued Family above all and would give you the shirt off her back if she had to.  She made many sacrifices in her life for those she loved and didn’t look back to complain about what life handed her. Jennie was a beautiful example of how a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend should be. She is the most admirable person I have ever met and will never forget.

                                                Richard Joseph Calhoun