Mrs. Martha Marquez, 80, of Apopka, Florida, passed away on Thursday, March 01, 2018. Mrs. Marquez was born on February 04, of 1938 in Havana, Cuba. She was preceded in death by her husband, Augustus D. Marquez. She is survived by her children, Dave. D. Marquez, Lou Marquez and Maria Fernandez; grandchildren Austin D. Marquez, Dylan D. Marquez and Erica L. Rew; great grandchild Gavin Marquez; and siblings Hilda M. Viera and Aida L. Guas.
Mrs. Marquez came to this country in 1966 from Havana, Cuba with her only son at the time, Dave D. Marquez. They were fortunate that her husband was already in Miami, Florida establishing roots for his family. They moved to Richard Hills in Queens, New York where she gave birth to their 2nd son, Lou Marquez. The family stayed in New York for 4 years before transferring to Chicago, Illinois, where she was a stay at home mother for her sons. While searching for a place to call home she came across Bear Lake in Orlando, Florida. Mrs. Marquez saw this as the perfect place to raise her children, it had such wonderful schools which inspired her to open her own daycare that came to be known as Happy Faces Day Care. A year after owning and operating Happy Faces, she sold her daycare company and decided to start a retirement home business called Silver Oaks Retirement Home, which she also sold after acquiring Orange Villa Retirement Home in Apopka, until her final retirement home called Shady Lane Retirement Home. Mrs. Martha Marquez finally retired herself and spent the rest of her days with her grandkids.