Emerita Morales' Obituary
Emerita Franceschini Morales, lovingly known as Mary, passed away on June 29, 2024 in her home in Odessa, Florida, in the company of her husband and children, after an eight-year bout with Alzheimer’s. Born to Emerita Rodriguez and Domingo Antonio Franceschini on December 31, 1949 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Mary was a child of renowned beauty and angelic generosity, beloved by all her siblings and fated to become an extraordinary woman.
In 1970 she married Wilfredo Morales in Puerto Rico, where they began a life of devotion and had their three children (Fred, Eric, Maria). In 1978 they moved to the Tampa Bay Area, a place they would come to call home for the remainder of their lives. After some years as caretaker to her children and household, Mary found employment at Gulf Coast Avionics, a small start-up that became, under her tireless work ethic and leadership, a thriving business. She devoted 25 years of her life to Gulf Coast Avionics and the industry’s larger community, starting out as secretary and bookkeeper and ending her career as mentor, controller, and vice president.
Mary’s children remember her as a mother of deep affection, uncanny resourcefulness, and an adventurous spirit. Among other things, she loved dancing, Motown music, Latin ballads, the movie West Side Story, and porcelain figurines. Her skill for making extravagant birthday and wedding cakes, bride’s maid’s dresses, and decorative macramé is legendary, as was her knack for bargain shopping and her eagerness to cook feasts and host parties. Above all, Mary is remembered as someone who practiced saint-like compassion. She wept, prayed, and cared for any who suffered or were in need, offering up her time, talents, and treasure no matter how costly or inconvenient. The world was a safer, more loving and hopeful place in her presence. That so many considered her their adoptive mother is no coincidence.
Her memory and legacy carry on with her husband, children, and granddaughter, Paloma, as well as those family and friends whose lives she immeasurably enriched.
A service in her honor will be held at Trinity Memorial Gardens (details forthcoming). All who were blessed to know her are welcome.
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