Emerio Garcia

Obituary of Emerio Garcia

Emerio Garcia Emerio Garcia passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side on Thursday, February 3, 2011 at the age of 89. He was born on July 27, 1921 to Altagracia and Victorino Garcia in Havana, Cuba. He was from a very tight knit family and was the middle of 9 children. At age 34, he met his future wife Eloisa Perez while visiting his brother Pablo. She was his next door neighbor and they married the following year. They would have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on August 4th of this year. While in Cuba he worked as a carpenter and at the Cerverzeria Hatuey which was Cuba's number one brewery. In October of 1966 with his two young sons and his wife, the family left Cuba for a better life in the U.S. and settled in Santa Cruz which they called home for over 40 years. Emerio was a humble man and always optimistic no matter what the situation. He was best known for his contagious smile and made acquaintances everywhere he went. Everyone always remembered him because of his smile and he was always the first to greet you and make you feel loved and special. Anyone who came into his home was welcomed with open arms, a genuine hospitality and a cold beer waiting for them. He was always thoughtful of others and would never just ask how you were but how your entire family was also. He was very proud of his family and there was nothing more important to him. Emerio was very hard working and took pride in his work. He worked at Salz Tannery in Santa Cruz for over 20 years and was always found doing some type of work at his home. He loved rooting for his favorite baseball team, The San Francisco Giants and kept fit by walking nearly 2 miles daily. He enjoyed going on walks to Safeway to purchase scratcher lottery tickets. He even made friends with neighbors along the way on his walks. Upon retirement he kept busy by taking his grandchildren to various activities after school. Once he retired he discovered casinos and that became another passion of his. He would take as many trips as he could to Vegas, Tahoe, Reno, bus trips to Chuckchansi and most recently to Chumash in Santa Ynez when his health declined and he could no longer travel to high altitudes. His last trip was in November and he was smiling the entire time. Always an optimist he was hopeful he could go again and was making plans to go back even on the day he left us. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Eloisa Garcia of Scotts Valley. His son and daughter-in-law Jorge and Tami Garcia, his son and daughter-in-law Manuel Garcia and Becky Coelho, all of Santa Cruz, and his daughter Michele Garcia of Scotts Valley. He is survived by his grandchildren, Briana (Stan) Hughes of Boulder Creek, Marissa Garcia of Santa Cruz and Emily Melville of Scotts Valley. He is also survived by two great-grandchildren, Joey and Jess Ramirez of Boulder Creek. He is preceded in death by his daughter and son in law, Mary and Mike Melville (2005), his grandson Brian Garcia (2000) and granddaughter Katie Melville (2005). He was extremely close to his surviving siblings Nilo, Pedro and Nivardo Garcia all of Miami, Florida and his sister Dora Garcia of Cuba. He also leaves behind many nephews and nieces whom both adored him and he adored all over the nation and Cuba. He was also known as "Papa" to Breanna, Lexie and Anthony Azevedo of Santa Cruz. The family would like to give a special thank you to Hospice of Santa Cruz County for all of their care and support during his illness. Thank you also to Lupita, Lydia, Sandra and Dr. Vu. Services are private and are being arranged by Benito & Azzaro, Pacific Gardens Chapel in Santa Cruz. Internment of his ashes will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Santa Cruz. In lieu of flowers, donations are preferred to Hospice of Santa Cruz County at 940 Disc Drive, Scotts Valley, California 95066 in memory of Emerio Garcia.
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We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel
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