Nydia Segarra Daragan Vargas, resident of Hollywood, Florida for 52 years, and more recently of Cooper City, passed away at home on Wednesday August 14, 2024, at the age of 99 – three weeks before her birthday centennial.
Nydia was born in Lajas, Puerto Rico on September 7, 1924. She moved to New York City with her family as a young girl and grew up in Harlem and Morningside Heights in upper Manhattan before settling in the Bronx, where she was active at Casita Maria arts center and graduated from Jane Addams High School in 1942.
During WWII, Nydia worked at a bullet factory at the Defense Plant in New Jersey. She went to beauty school and became a licensed cosmetologist and nail specialist working in beauty salons in Miami Beach, New York City and in later years Hallandale Beach.
Nydia enjoyed oil painting, sewing, writing and reading poetry, and listening and singing along to all kinds of music. She loved to dance from lindy hop and mambo to the twist and disco and won a few beauty contests and dance competitions as a teenager and young adult.
In her later years as a housewife and mother in Charleston, West Virginia; Stamford, Connecticut; and Queens, New York, she won bowling trophies, bingo awards and received many recognitions for her volunteer work at the local hospitals, church and schools.
She adored her condo, friends, and walks in Hollywood Beach and visiting the Arts & Culture Center. She was a long-standing parishioner of Nativity Catholic Church in Hollywood and later St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Hallandale Beach where she loved to play Bingo with her girlfriends.
She will be sadly missed by her son Daniel Daragan of Cooper City and her daughter Karen Daragan of New York City; as well as her four grandchildren Melissa Jacobs, Bill Daragan, Michael Daragan and Isabel Bonham; two great grandchildren Denver Daragan and Ayla Daragan; daughter-in-law Tammie Daragan and son-in-law Tim Bonham; sister Stella Maqueda and her many nieces, nephews and cousins within the Segarra and Daragan families.
Nydia was predeceased by her loving husband of 26 years William Daragan in 1979; her spouse of 15 years Aracelio (Tony) Vargas in 1999, her older sister and best friend Olga Ortiz in 2019; eight other Segarra brothers and sisters Henry, Ophelia, Louie, Billy, Charlie, Teddy and Jimmy; and parents Amalia Bey and Avelino Segarra.
Visitation services will be held on Wednesday Aug. 21 from 12-2 pm and 6-8pm at Boyd-Panciera Funeral Home, 1600 N. University Drive, Pembroke Pines. The evening vigil will include a prayer service and celebration of life.
Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care
Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care
Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care
Nativity Catholic Church
Hollywood Memorial Gardens
© 2024 Boyd Panciera. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Karen
August 17, 2024, 3:32 pm
Beautiful Nydia!
Carl
August 17, 2024, 3:52 pm
Danny Boy,
I’m so sorry to hear of your mother passing. She was a trouper. She will be in my prayers along with you and your family.
Karen
August 17, 2024, 4:01 pm
Beautiful Nydia Esperanza!
Saul Gonzalez
August 17, 2024, 4:05 pm
My most heartfelt condolences to the family. May God keep you strong and give you peace during such a difficult time. God bless you all
David E. Ramirez
August 21, 2024, 10:05 am
Our sincere condolences for the passing of Titi Nydia. She was the younger sister of my Grandma Ophelia and the daughter of my Great Grandmother Amalia.
I have sooooooooo many fond memories of Titi Nydia, Uncle Bill, Dan, and Karen when they all lived in Malba, Queens, NY.
Uncle Bill Daragan was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge as he was a Chemical Engineer. He encouraged my father, Bill Ramirez, to go to Tristate University in Indiana to successfully pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Titi Nydia took very good care of me as a child whenever I spent weekends at the Daragan’s house close to the Whitestone Expressway and a few blocks away from Holy Trinity Church & School in Malba, Queens, NY.
In the Summertime, she’d walk Dan, Karen, and me to nice park underneath the Whitestone Bridge, where we’d cool off with the water sprinklers there and/or go swimming in the small beach under that bridge.
Sometimes, when Dan and I were 11 years old, she’d wrestle BOTH of us in what would’ve been called a “Handicap Match” in the WWE (two against one). Titi Nydia was a VERY STRONG WOMAN‼️‼️‼️
Titi Nydia would work soooooooooo hard whenever Dan or Karen had a Birthday Party at the Malba house. What a good, caring, and loving mother, wife, and aunt she was‼️
Titi Nydia will be missed by all of us. However, she’ll also be reunited with members of our familia who had alreadytransitioned to the next life: . . . Uncle Bill Daragan, both of my parents, Bill and Elsa Ramirez, Grandpa Wilfred, Great Grandmother Amalia, Uncle Hector, the Segarra siblings – Grandma Ophelia, Titi Olga, Uncle Teddy, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Louie, Uncle Billy, and Uncle Jimmy.
May Almighty God continue to bless us all. Amen.
Lots of Peace and Love,
David and Blanca 2024
Anita Ramirez Ortiz
August 22, 2024, 2:55 am
Our most heartfelt condolences to the family. We were so sad to hear of Titi Nydia’s passing, as we never want our loved ones to go. Titi Nydia was such a beautiful person inside and out and such a wonderful aunt to me, alongside Titi Olga and Titi Stella! Always very loving, kind, attentive, and always very happy! Her laugh was so contagious! I loved our family get togethers. Those are the best memories, I hold dear! I also remember, as a kid, learning to play cards with the aunties like rummy and spite and malice. I looked forward to the card games! Titi Nydias “papa rellenas” (stuffed potatoes) were one of a kind! Sooooo delicious! She loved collecting clowns. Everytime we’d come over to her house, she’d have a new addition to her clown collection! Titi Nydia was my God mother for my confirmation and what a beautiful honor that was. With her positive and motivating personality, she always encouraged me to continue school so I could have a great career and have nice things. I was very blessed to have grown up alongside Titi Nydia and our beautiful and loving families! May she rest in peace. I know that she is together now with all our other loved ones that have passed. Love you Titi Nydia and until we meet again. Anita, Javier, Alexandra and Javi