Margarita Alfaro

Margarita Alfaro, 88, of Hialeah, Florida passed away Thursday, February 26, 2015.

Margarita was born on March 16, 1926, in Spanish Harlem in New York City. She was one of five children born to Ana Victoria Laracuente of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her father, Manuel Alfaro, was a native of Ovalle, Chile. Her sisters, Clotilde Rivera and Ophelia Alfaro, and her brothers: Celso Mercado and John Rodriguez, predeceased her.

Margarita was a graduate of Central Commercial High School in Manhattan. She worked for more that 30 years for the Hearst Corporation at Good Housekeeping Magazine. Although initially hired as a typist, she ended her career as the manager of the Bulletin Service Department. She retired and relocated to Florida following the passing of her beloved husband Michael Carrasquillo in 1990.

In her retirement years, Margarita enjoyed many voluntary activites that included tutoring elementary school children in reading and math, work with crafts and serving as a bilingual translator for some of the retirement communities in which she lived. She began practicing Tai Chi Chuan in her late 40s and continued throughout the rest of her life as an avid participant in exercise.

Through her later years, she lived in the Florida communities of Lake Wales, Melbourne, Tampa, and Hialeah. She had been a resident of Epworth Village Retirement Community in Hialeah since 2009. She enjoyed her friends and participating in residential activities.

Margarita was a vibrant woman, a cherished mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend. She is survived by her children: Eileen Hernandez, Arthur Hernandez, Joanna Hernandez and Christina Hernandez; her grandchildren: Ronald Adorno, Melissa Adorno-DiMaria, Jason Adorno, Arthur Brian Hernandez, Sheena Cipu, Gary Otto, Kristin Hernandez,  Arthur Joseph Hernandez and David Potter; great grandchildren; great, great, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Burial will take place on Friday, May 8, 2015, at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island.  A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2015 - 10:30 AM at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, 60th Street and Columbus Ave. in New York City.  Fr. Bruce Nieli, CSP will be officiating. A reception will be held following mass at the St. Paul's Parish Center.

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