Juanita Figueroa López

Juanita Figueroa López, 83, transitioned peacefully from her home in Apopka to her new spiritual existence with The Lord on October 24, 2014 surrounded by her loving daughters and devoted son. Juanita was born December 4,1930 in Comerio, Puerto Rico. She moved to New York in 1948, before settling in the Chicagoland area in 1949, during which time she also lived in Northern Indiana and Southern Wisconsin. Juanita worked for Bethany Methodist Hospital and Home, and Zenith Corporation in Chicago from 1960 to 1975. She initially moved to Central Florida in 1975.

Juanita was the mother of daughters Celeste (nee Gregorie), Jeanne (nee Fagan) and Generosa (nee Molina), and son, Modesto López. She will be profoundly missed by four grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and four great, great grandchildren, in addition to her two sisters, Isabel Carmona and Rosaira Tymczyszak, and a brother, Manuel Figueroa, Jr.

Juanita loved her Lord, her family, and her flowers; and was an icon of strength and fortitude to her countless nieces, nephews, cousins as well as hundreds of extended family members.

She leaves an established legacy spanning forty years of Christian leadership at La Iglesia Bautista Central, and North Shore Spanish Baptist Church in Chicago. As part of her community ministry at the Spanish Speaking Baptist Church in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, Juanita established The Self Help Store, a facility that helped new immigrants and migrant workers transition into Central Wisconsin society. At the First Baptist Church in Racine Wisconsin, she provided the leadership, coordination and delivery of the Church’s educational initiatives for children, and other social functions. She also reached out into the surrounding Latino community to share the Word of the Lord.

She was pivotal in the establishment of the Laurel Hill and Morning Star Baptist Churches in Orlando, Florida. In both of these churches, Juanita worked with other women leaders to found La Asociación de Damas, which exist to this day.

Mrs. Figueroa López was married for forty-five years to Rev. Modesto DeLeon López, the father of her children.

Arrangements under the direction of Family Funeral Care, Orlando, FL.