Obituary of Fela Reyes

Fela Reyes was a strong, amazing woman. She was born Rafaela Andrea Florat in Camaguey, Cuba on November 30, 1918. (However, thanks to a mixup in Cuba, we all know her birthday was legally August 18, 1918). Raised mainly by her grandparents, her grandmother taught her to sew, knit, embroider and crochet at an early age and she became highly skilled in each of these crafts. And throughout her life, she blessed many people with these talents. She met the love of her life when she was 20, and after a 3 year courtship, she married Sergio Gustavo Reyes on June 30, 1940. Nearly a year later on June 10, 1941, Fela gave birth to her first daughter, Alice Margarita. Soon after, they took over a family business where she worked as the cook; which enabled them to build a new house in Camaguey shortly after the birth of their second daughter. Magally Caridad was born on September 6, 1945. Nine years later, and to the great delight of her daughters and husband, Fela gave birth to a son. Sergio Jesus was born on Christmas Day 1954. As turmoil began in Cuba, Fela knew it was time to follow her husband’s lifelong dream and start the process of going to the United States of America. This process led them first to Venezuela on April 19, 1957. Here their fourth and last child Matilde Anay was born on October 5, 1958. Sergio was finally able to come to the US in October of 1959, where he joined his oldest daughter Alice and husband Tony in Miami. Meanwhile, Fela took the 3 youngest children back to Cuba to spend the next year with her sick mother. It was in 1960, on her husband’s 45th birthday that she and the kids arrived to join him at their new home, to begin this next chapter of their lives together in this new country. So at age 42, with a teenager, a six year old and a toddler; she started life in a country where she didn’t know the language or the culture. She didn’t drive. And for the first time in her life, didn’t have the support of her extended family and friends. With her sheer strength and determination she moved on, providing what the family needed to succeed. About a year later, Sergio and Fela were invited to go to Templo Biblico Bautista, a small Hispanic church not far from their home and both accepted Christ as their Savior their first Sunday there. In that little Spanish church they grew in the Lord and the youngest were now being raised by Christian parents. Even though the language was a barrier, Fela always found a way to help her husband with family expenses in various ways. For example: by cooking meals for others and hosting an elderly friend from up north during several winters. In October of 1967, the Reyes family moved to Melbourne, Florida from Miami. On Easter Sunday of 1968; they started attending and later joined Calvary Baptist Church. They were the first members of Calvary’s hispanic ministry. Fela was very instrumental in encouraging her husband to start his own business. She was his biggest cheerleader, confident in his success even when he doubted his English-speaking abilities. She was also his faithful seamstress for the nearly 20 years he owned the upholstery shop. The word that best describes Fela is “Faithful”. She was a faithful wife. She prayed with the youngest children every night and faithfully attended the English-speaking church for years without understanding the language. At the group homes where she lived most recently, she prayed with and for her caregivers. Rafaela Andrea Florat was faithful and led by example. This is exemplified in the lives of her 4 children, 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren. We thank the Lord for the many years she blessed our lives.