Mary Collia Alvarez's Obituary
Mary C. Alvarez, of Tampa, passed away on August 28, 2013. She was born in Tampa on March 11, 1925, and grew up in Ybor City. Mary was predeceased by her parents, Manuel Collia Gonzalez and Asuncion Villar Perez, of Asturias, Spain. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Luis Alvarez, her son, Luis Alvarez, Jr., his wife, Judith A. English, and their children, Max and Ally. Mary attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help and worked for the Strategic Air Command at MacDill Air Force Base for 15 years before moving to Vegadeo, in the Spanish province of Asturias, to care for her mother. There she met her husband and married in 1960. She returned to Tampa in 1961 and in 1962 became a legal secretary with Knight, Bell & Jones, the predecessor law firm of Holland & Knight. She worked for Holland & Knight until 2000, retiring as the senior secretary of the firm and one of its original employees. A funeral service will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church at 5225 N. Himes Ave., at 2 pm, Friday, September 6, 2013. The family will receive friends in Higgins Hall immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mary's name to Lifepath Hospice, 3010 W. Azeele St., Tampa, FL 33609 or to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Ave., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001.
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