By CE Marshall
Sad news in my personal life as we lay my mother in law to rest next week. She passed away on August 1. She was an inspiring person who went through great struggle in life with both determination and grace. She was meek as the Bible refers to the word - the correct translation of that being "a gentle force". Juanita and I never had a full conversation - I am not fluent in Spanish and she was not fluent in English. We did, however, speak to each other through our gestures and eyes, and behavior and mutual admiration. She had a silent strength that shined through to the week she passed away. Always gentle, always graceful, always with a kind welcoming nature underlined with a sadness reflecting her life's experiences. She was a beautiful woman who was always careful how she presented herself to the world. A classy lady to the end. Rest in peace sweet Juanita- we miss you. Finally, rest in peace and be sad no more.
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
I was given the honor of writing Juanita's Obituary which is below.
Juana Menendez Sept 17 1932- August 1 2025
Juanita Menendez was born Juana Portal on September 17, 1932 to Santiago Portal and Orosia Adelina Delgado Miranda in Santa Clara, Cuba. One of twelve children, Juanita was a twin to a brother, named Santiago after their father. He and she were the last two survivors of the 12 children. Juanita’s family was a farming family, so much of her youth was spent working the farm with her brothers and sisters. As a young woman Juanita had an interest in poetry (Jose Marti being her favorite poet) literature (Don Quixote, Les Miserables, and the Count of Monte Cristo being her favorite books) and music- (her favorite musician being Armando Manzanero). Blessed with a beautiful singing voice she came close to a career as a singer having been a finalist in a national singing contest. She met and fell in love with Candido Menendez and married him on November 29, 1958. They lived in Habana and she worked at her family’s dry-cleaning business until the Communist revolution ultimately removed all private business in Cuba. They went on to have two children, Tony and Janet. Tony born on September 22, 1960 and Janet July 8, 1972.
Surviving the anguish of a collapsing country to the tyranny of Fidel Castro was the biggest challenge of Juanita’s life. With grit and determination, she managed to keep her family fed by working as a seamstress and other odd jobs to get extra money. She skipped meals and did without so her children could eat more. Hunger was ever- present.
She and Candido refused to become members of the Communist party which brought great hardship, struggle and anguish. Juanita never let that keep her down. Such a kind person but also with such great courage, Juanita took her daughter, Janet, to the Catholic church- a very risky thing to do in Communist Cuba – this brought even more scrutiny from the government. But, nevertheless, through her fierce determination she managed to get her son, Tony, a rare “good” job in a Soviet TV factory helping him to get started in a career as an electrician – a highly sought after skill in communist Cuba and to this day- here in the USA- Tony works in electronics as an engineer.
This determination served the family well as she and Candido managed to escape Cuba on May 20, 1985. This through a negotiated agreement between Reagan and Castro to allow political opponents of the Communist government to leave Cuba. (The agreement ended right after the family’s flight to Miami)
Starting a new life in her 50’s, and not speaking English was another challenge to Juanita and she once again rose to the challenge. Working a factory job along with Candido the two managed to finish raising Janet (who was 12 at the time). Once again, through her support and encouragement, Juanita helped Janet get into one of the best high schools in South Florida- Nova High School- a magnet school that helped immerse Janet into English much more rapidly than would have been possible in a regular high school.
Although seen as kind and thoughtful by all around her throughout her life- which she was- Juanita was also intelligent and full of determination to take care of her family through some very challenging times. Overcoming other great personal obstacles with faith in Jesus Christ- seeing Him as the example to live by- she was truly a remarkable human being – one of the silent warriors that makes this world livable.
Juanita passed away on August 1, 2025 in Winter Garden, Fla. She is survived by two children, two grandchildren and one great- grandchild- Hazel born just four months ago. Seeing Hazel and holding her in her arms was the highlight of Juanita’s last year and this thought, that part of her would still go on, gave her great joy as she lived the last months of her life.
Juanita will be greatly missed.
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