Gricelia Dolores Mas' Obituary
Gricelia Dolores Mas passed away peacefully on May 26, 2021, at home surrounded by her loved ones. The 12th youngest of 13 brothers and sisters, she was born on May 13, 1923 to Jose Acevedo Gonzalez and midwife Elisa Cabrera Martinez.
Gricio, as she was affectionately known, grew up in the countryside village of Fomento, in the Sancti Spíritus province of Cuba. She excelled in school, where she wrote poetry and presented discourses on Cuban history. In 1945, she married her husband, Angel Roberto Mas, whom she met while working in “escogidas” of tobacco.
In 1962, together with her husband and two young children, the family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Union City, New Jersey, where Gricio and her husband started a small business called R. Mas Gift Store, a home furnishings store located at 2116 Bergenline Ave. in Union City. Gricio was widowed at the age of 43 after losing her husband suddenly and finished raising her two children on her own while running a successful business and actively participating for decades as Treasurer and Secretary of El Club Amigos e Hijos de Fomento, a social club in Union City.
In the early 1990s, Gricio chose to retire in Miami to be close to her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her daughter, Consuelo Morel; five grandchildren, Carlos Espinoza, Felix Mas, Giselle Mas, Robert Mas, and Laura Morel; and three great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Angel Roberto Mas; and her son, Felix Roberto Mas.
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