Hortensia Serra Rodríguez, age 97, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, passed away on Friday, July 7, 2023, in the company of her immediate family. She died of natural causes.

Her Memorial Service will be held on Friday, July 14, 2023, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The Burial Service will follow the next day at 10:00 a.m. at Vista Memorial Gardens in nearby Miami Lakes, Florida. She will be buried next to her mother and father and near other family members. Her deceased husband, Andrés Rodríguez, was buried in Cuba. Also preceding in death were her son-in-law, John Walker, with whom she had a wonderful relationship, and her granddaughter, Whitnie Walker-Caban, who resembled her beautiful grandmother in appearance.

Born on October 30, 1925, in Artemisa, Cuba, Hortensia pursued a teaching degree at the University of Havana until she married Andrés in October of 1950. Upon his sad and untimely passing in 1959, in relation to Fidel Castro’s takeover of the island nation, she returned to the university and received a Doctorate in Pedagogy. She then immigrated to the United States in December of 1961, soon after Castro turned Cuba into a communist country. Her residence became Hialeah, Florida, near her siblings and their families, until earning a scholarship to the University of Iowa (U of I) in the summer of 1964 to become certified to teach. The state of Iowa’s Department of Education, for two consecutive years, recruited Cuban teachers and attorneys in South Florida to move to Iowa and become teachers of Spanish. At the end of that summer of ‘64, she was hired by Paton-Churdan Community School to teach at the high school in Churdan. She continued to return to U of I during the summers to obtain a Master’s Degree in Spanish Literature, which she completed in 1971. She continued to live in Churdan where she improved her English-language skills, became an American citizen, and made many American friends until June of 1972 after her daughter had moved away to college and completed her first year at a nearby university.

Upon leaving Iowa, Hortensia moved to Union City, New Jersey to be near her best friend since childhood and her husband, Clotilde and Victor Lopez. She remained there until 1975 when her daughter graduated from college. She then returned to Iowa, at her daughter’s request, and settled along with her in Dubuque, Iowa. There, she returned to teaching at the parochial high school. In 1978, when her daughter married, Hortensia moved back to warmer Florida to be near her brothers and sister. She resided in Miami Beach, near to the ocean she loved, and worked in the accounting department of Kaufman and Roberts from which she retired in 1990. She then taught for a couple of years, on a part-time basis, English for Speakers of Other Languages to adults at a private school managed by a friend. Hortensia was beloved by many students in Iowa, who would still write to her, and by those in South Florida, who would occasionally call her.

In 2004, she moved to Century Village in Pembroke Pines, not far from her daughter who had also moved to Florida along with her immediate family. Hortensia volunteered at several Pembroke Pines schools helping students who were either learning English or had learning disabilities. She attended mass at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church where she would meet her daughter for Sunday services.

Hortensia had many interests. Aside from education, she loved to travel with family and friends on cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska and on road trips to the national parks in the West. She also enjoyed a trip to Spain, to meet relatives, and to other countries in Europe. She was an avid sports fan and loved watching the Dolphins, Heat, and Marlins play and also cheered for the Iowa Hawkeyes. For a period of time, she would weekly meet many friends to go to Jai Alai. Hortensia could discuss anything about sports whether it be football, tennis, or golf. She was an athletic young girl and predominantly played basketball in school. She also loved to read and kept up with all current and entertainment news and played Sudoku and 4 Pics 1 Word daily on her electronic tablet. She texted to relatives and friends clever jokes and funny pictures that she would find on the internet.

Hortensia is survived by her daughter, Amada Maria Walker; grandson, Weston Walker; great-granddaughters, Inés and Chloé Caban and their father, Ken; and nephews who reside in Florida. She is also survived by a niece in Cuba and other family members in Artemisa, Cuba, and Barcelona, Spain.

Hortensia, the world will be a little less entertained and kind without you. You will forever remain in our hearts.

Funeral Arrangements entrusted to: Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care