Obituary for Jose Manuel Baeza

JOSE MANUEL BAEZA

June 27,1932 – April 24, 2025

Jose Manuel Baeza (Manolo) passed away on April 24, 2025, in Miami, Florida at the age of 92. Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, to Jose Manuel Baeza and Evangelina Mazón, he attended primary and high school at La Salle Catholic School,  and then went on to graduate from the University of Miami in 1954 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He married his first wife Encarnación Gonzalez in Cuba in 1956 and had three children, Jose Manuel (Manolito), Javier and Michele.

He moved to Puerto Rico in 1960, where he lived for fourteen years. There he founded the first of several industrial equipment sales and rental businesses, eventually expanding to include companies in Miami, Panama and Costa Rica, all of which are now under the direction of his son and grandsons. In 1986, he married Brunilda Nunez Baeza, and together they went on to enjoy nearly forty years of joy and adventure, until his passing.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Manolo loved fishing, a good round of poker, traveling with his wife and enjoying their time together and with their friends, both in Miami and in Panama, most notably at his country home in El Valle de Antón. He was a good and loyal friend to all who knew him. Above all, Manolo was a true patriarch who wanted nothing more than the best for his family, and his presence in their lives will be sorely missed.

He is survived by his large family: loving wife, Brunilda Nunez Baeza; children Javier (Penny) Baeza, Michele (Dennis) Kelleher, Ana Victoria Garcia-Navarro, Rafael (Rachael) Garcia-Navarro,  Carolina Garcia-Navarro, Lulu Garcia-Navarro (James Hider), and Ramon Pielago; 15 grandchildren, Nikolas, Javier, Jose Manuel, Alejandro, and Marco Baeza, Deborah Diaz, Jack, Eva, Dylan and Riley Kelleher, Alexandra and Adriana Uriarte, Anastasia Garcia-Navarro, Marina van Beek, and Cassenia Hider; plus ten beautiful great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews who all loved him. He is preceded in death by children Jose Manuel (Manolito) Baeza and Olga Garcia-Navarro, and daughter-in-law Waleska Visalden.

Mass will be held at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 100 Harbor Drive in Key Biscayne on May 12, 2025 at 11 AM, followed by inurnment at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn