Alice Socorro Cardona

Alice Socorro Cardona was born on January 8 ^th , 1945, in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to Jorge and Isabel Zapata.  She went to be with the Lord on February 16 ^th , 2022.  Her family moved to New York City when she was 5 years old.  Alice had five brothers and 2 sisters.  They are: Maria Cardona, Manolin Rosado, Carmen Baez, George Zapata, Jose Zapata (all deceased).  Moses, Angel and David Zapata.  Alice loved and cared for her family deeply and was especially close to her brothers.  Most of them grew up in the Alfred E. Smith Projects in the lower east side of Manhattan, New York.

On April 17, 1971, she married the love of her life, Carlos Manuel Cardona Sr.  They raised four children together whom she is survived by.  They are Raul Diaz of Sebring, FL and his wife Patricia, Lissette Allison of Lexington, SC and her husband Christian, Carlos Manuel Cardona Jr. of Miami FL and his wife Martica, and Melissa Cardona of Sebring, FL.

Before Alice became a wife and mother she worked as a secretary in New York.  Later in life, she was an assistant manager at the Dollar General Store in Avon Park, FL.  Her real job though, was a stay-at-home wife, mother, and grandmother.  She always kept the house clean, helped with the homework, cooked all the meals and she was the disciplinarian.   She was tough and she didn’t let her children get away with much!

In 1989 she and most of her family left New York and moved to Sebring, FL where she and Carlos lived the rest of their lives.

Over the years the family continued to grow with many beautiful grandchildren.  They are   Ariel, Raul, Ray, Jasmine, Noah, Christopher, Christian, Austin, Justin, Eliana, Isaiah, Elizabeth, Hadassah, Mycah, Charilyn, Tatyana, Destin, Joey, Angie, and Lizzy.  She was also blessed with 8 beautiful great-grandchildren.  Joseph, Asher, Lainie, Atiya, Jericho, Athena, Arianna, and Janellie.

During the years in New York when she was raising her children, she always had the doors open when someone was in need.  It didn’t matter if they needed to stay for an hour or a few days, she always made room for them.  She also welcomed her children’s friends whether it was for a birthday party or just to share a meal with them.  She was a surrogate mother to many!

Alice had a lot of talent especially when it came to arts and crafts.  She very much enjoyed making crafts with her grandchildren over the years.  She also enjoyed writing poems as well as collecting many, many pictures of her family.  Those pictures would serve as most of her memories.

She was also an incredible writer and wrote many stories and poems about her life and her family.

Alice was raised Catholic but truly gave her heart to the Lord and became a born-again Christian around 1980.  She and her family attended Trinity Assembly of God on Henry Street in New York City from about 1981 to 1989.  There, she was a very active member of the church.  She took the role of play director and put together many memorable plays for events like Easter and Christmas. She also volunteered during VBS.  She made life-long friends at Trinity, and she cherished her time there.  Alice attended many churches in Sebring but unfortunately never found her new home church in Florida but that never changed her devotion to serving the Lord.  She may not have served her local churches, but her ministry was at home.  Alice was not just a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, but she was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law, a cousin, a friend and confidant.

Alice left a legacy of love, faithfulness, and integrity.  She was a beautiful, virtuous woman who loved her family more than anything and she will be forever missed.  Rest in peace faithful servant of God.

Arrangements entrusted to:

Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home

4001 Sebring Parkway

Sebring, FL 33870

Online condolences may be left at:

www.stephensonnelsonfh.com