Juana Garcia

Born in Camagé�ey, Cuba on May 6, 1923

Departed on February 17, 2017 and resided in Wheat Ridge, CO

• Recitation of the Rosary: Latina Funerals and Cremation
  • Saturday February 25, 2017 10:00am
• Memorial Service: Latina Funerals and Cremation
  • Saturday February 25, 2017 10:45am

Juana Olga (Lopez de) Garcia, 93, passed away on February 17, 2017. Preceded in death by husband Roberto, brother Daniel, and sister Gladys Rojas, Olga is survived by daughter Ledy Garcia-Eckstein (John); son Robert Garcia (Valarie); brother Jose Ramon Suarez (Dolores); grandchildren Joshua Hindley, Robbie Garcia (Jen), Michael Garcia, Christopher Garcia, Cody Eckstein, Maria Alexandra Eckstein; great-grandchildren Hannah and Alex Hindley and McKenzie and Liam Garcia; nieces and nephews, Myrna Herrera, Magda Rojas Gunderson, Dr. Rolando Rojas, Lourdes, Elena and Jose Ramon Suarez and former student and long-time friend Susan (Stephen) Clarke.

Olga was born in Camagé�ey, Cuba, on May 6, 1923. She studied education and received a Doctorate in Pedagogy from the University of Havana. Olga taught elementary school and worked for the Ministry of Education in Camagé�ey, Cuba, and fled the country in 1961, as a political exile, to join her family in Miami, FL. After the death of her husband in Miami in 1962, Olga and her children relocated through the federal refugee resettlement program to Iowa. Olga taught Spanish in Iowa public schools in Audubon and Clinton, IA, and spent summers studying at the University of Iowa, where she earned a Master's Degree.

She became an American citizen who loved her adoptive country and remembered fondly a party given in her honor by her fellow teachers in Iowa, and a poster that said, "Olga is the best acquisition the United States has made since the Louisiana Purchase." Olga later moved to Miami where she taught at Miami Dade College and was active in the "Colegio de Pedagogos de Cubanos en el Exilio," an organization of Cuban educators. Upon retirement, Olga split her time between Miami and Denver, where she volunteered for the Denver Public Libraries. In addition to her passion for education, Olga loved reading, laughing, telenovelas, TV series with Tom Selleck, key lime pie, spending time with her friends and family, and lively political conversations.

A Rosary will be held at 10:00 a.m. followed by a Memorial Service at 10:45am, Saturday, February 25, at Latina Funerals & Cremations (3020 Federal Blvd, Denver, CO). A separate memorial will be held in Miami in May.

Per Olga's wishes, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to the scholarship fund, Miami Dade College Foundation, 300 NE 2nd Avenue, 4th Floor, Miami, FL 33132 or online at

www.mdcfoundation.com/ways-to-give/online-giving .

Please share your memories of Juana and condolences with her family by signing the guestbook below.