Carmen Rita Sanchez

With saddened hearts we announce the passing of Carmen Rita Sanchez, 94, who passed away on Friday, September 11, 2020 at her granddaughter’s residence in St. Augustine, FL. She was born on April 25, 1926 in Ponce, Puerto Rico to the late Francisco Sanchez and Rafaela Godreau. In her youth, she was a catechist in the church teaching the youth about the Catholic faith. Carmen graduated from Ponce High School with the class of 1944. She attended trade school and trained to become a seamstress. She married Pastor Rafael Negron, Sr. and raised a family of two children while working as a seamstress. Pastor Rafael passed away in 1952 at the age of 34. In 1958, she moved to New York and met Pedro Serrano at a family gathering. The couple married in 1959, together they raised a family of 4 children while working as a seamstress. She enjoyed crocheting and watching game shows. She loved animals especially dogs. Carmen was the neighborhood safe haven raising troubled children from bad situations. Carmen is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Pastor Rafael Negron, Sr. and Pedro Serrano; daughter, Carmen Negron; step daughter, Ana Luisa, and step sons; Pedro and Catalino. Carmen is survived by her daughters, Idalia Boczek (Paul) of Huntington, NY, Maria Serrano (Kimberly) of California, Neyda Serrano Biggs (Marcus) of E. Stroudsburg, PA; sons, Elvin Serrano (Julie) of Valrico, FL and Pastor Negron (Liduvina) of Ponce, PR; step daughters, Evarista, Julia, Ramonita; step sons, Juan, Jose Luis; 13 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren; 21 step grandchildren and many great and great great grandchildren. A celebration of Carmen’s life will be 5:00 p.m. Monday, September 14th at St Johns Family Funeral Home with Pastor Jay Molina officiating. Visitation will be from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00p.m. before the service. In keeping with the CDC Coronavirus guidelines every attendee must wear a mask and the number of attendees may be restricted. We ask that if you are at high risk, feeling ill, or traveling from an area with a high level of infection, please do not attend the service. Those unable to attend can view the service live streamed at https://iframe.dacast.com/b/156599/c/iframe.dacast.com/b/156599/c/549019 . Carmen will be laid to rest at St. Raymond's Cemetery in Bronx,NY. In lieu of flowers donation in Carmen's memory may be sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org, or Alzheimer's Association, https://act.alz.org . St Johns Family Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Carmen Rita Sanchez

April 25, 1926 - September 11, 2020