The Loving Life Story of Edna

Edna is survived by her loving husband Frank Castro, her three adoring

daughters in respective birth order, Marina Ivette Jimenez-Johnson, Maria

Ivonne Jimenez, and Chantal Geneva Jimenez. She has seven

grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who first names are in birth

order respectively: Janeva, Mariah, Sheldon, Shalisa, Vinny, Giavanna,

Nicholas, Athena and August. Her son-in-law Jonah ‘Jay’ Johnson is

married to her daughter Marina and Austen Willis is the partner of Janeva

and father of Athena and August.

Edna Castro was born, Edna Ivette Ostalaza-Torres on September 15, 1950

on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and raised in Ponce, PR, to Maria

Ivette Ostalaza-Torres and Angel Torres. She is the 2 nd child of four

siblings, with eldest brother Angel “Jr.”, Iris “Itti”, as the 3 rd born and their

late brother Nelson as the youngest. All siblings have children of whom

Edna loved all of her nieces and nephews so much.

To understand Edna is to understand love. Those who were ever graced

with her presence, could not help but love her instantly. She was very

intuitive and knew when there was an issue, concern, or if you were feeling

down. Her goal was to put others at ease and let them know they were not

alone or forgotten. She wanted to remove any hurt, pain or loneliness

anyone felt and adopt them as her own. Love was the first and the most

important characteristic Edna had and wanted to give to others-always.

Edna’s love for her family was unmeasured because it was beyond. She was

the matriarch, the one that made sure her family was together and okay.

Whether it was a birthday, holiday, graduations, special event/

announcement, or any celebration in between, Edna was there to

coordinate and facilitate, with her love and support. You could not have a

better person cheering you on than her.

Her love went beyond her family because her friends, the friends of her

loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, people who took care of her, and

sometimes even those she had not met but she heard good things about

received her love. If anyone knows Edna, if she heard you were kind to

those she cared for, then you were someone she appreciated and she cared

for. She never met a stranger because her energy was that of love.

Her caring spirit reigned true for the work she did also. She was very proud

of the career she had assisting others find work and providing them

guidance. Edna worked for the State of Florida, starting with the

Department of Labor and retiring as it transitioned to Career Source. Each

job seeker, employer, or coworker that encountered Edna could see the

heart she put into her work for those she helped and worked with. Her

outfits were on point because her appearance was important. She put her

best foot forward, as she wanted to be a role model for people she

encouraged to move into their career endeavors. If you worked with Edna

the names of Marina, Ivonne/ Maria, and Chantal came up often and with a

big smile on her face. Her work ethic truly was instilled in her daughters

and the pride she felt from knowing how much we wanted to be the best we

can in our careers, made her stand up tall.

Us daughters, Marina, Ivonne, and Chantal were her everything and she

spoke of us often. She would say seeing her girls together and enjoying one

another, made her the happiest. Although we are biased, Edna was the best

mother anyone could ever ask for. Through everything, she always wanted

us daughters to know how much she cared, prayed, and loved us. She was

honored to be our mother and we were so blessed God chose us to have her

as our Mom. We would not change her for anything in the world and if you

know Edna’s daughters or spoke to Edna about us, then you knew this to be

true.

Edna not only showered everyone with her glowing love, she also tickled us

with her lighthearted personality! Her cute shoulder shrug and smile she

gave when she tried to do something mischievous but really could not, was

precious. The little things she would say that had us laugh years later or the

things she did that still make us giggle to this day, are forever special in our

hearts. There are endless stories we could share but we picked just a couple

for you to enjoy.

One of the most memorable, was a time Marina came to the house and was

telling a story about an accident that had the road backed up. It was just a

regular day of the week, but for some reason the all the family was there,

even on the phone to listen to the story. It was between a motorcycle and

an Avalanche truck. That is important to know for the story, be assured.

Marina explained what she saw and our dear Edna stated, “what-there was

an avalanche on 19?!”, thinking of nature’s phenomenon. Everyone was

quiet and then laughed, explaining that is a type of truck. Once she realized

it would be difficult to have an avalanche in FL, she was tickled pink and

would periodically bring it up to get the family laughing. That was the

innocence Edna had, she was pure grace.

The most recent humorous act she performed was that of ‘playing possum’.

Although she was the one sick, she tried her best to keep up everyone’s

spirits. When her daughters, husband, or staff would be with her and knew

she needed to rest, we would tell her ‘Mom, you need to go to sleep and

rest’. So, she would immediately just close her eyes and turn her head

slightly to oblige. We started to notice this was a trend, because she never

did go to sleep and was pretending to make us happy or to stop asking her-

one or the other. So, she was told she was ‘playing possum’, and along with

us, she thought it was the funniest thing. Whenever she was asked to ‘play

possum’, she would do it on command and close her eyes and tilt her head

slightly, to make us laugh. That was Edna, even when she was not feeling

her best, she did her best to make others happy around her. The joy of

others was her joy.

Another story is about how protecting her family was Edna’s top priority!

The Castro pool is a cooling enjoyment for everyone in the summer,

especially the grandchildren. Edna, being the momma bear and amazing

grandmother, she is, was careful to watch when her loved ones were in the

pool. Frank had installed a new screen door to the sliding glass door

headed out to the pool deck, to allow air flow in the house but keep pesky

summer critters out. At this time the Athena and August were hanging out

with their great-grandparents for the day. Edna saw little August by the

pool about to go in thinking he was unsupervised, not realizing Yaya Frank

and his big sister Athena, were outside with him. Edna swung into action

to run and save him from the pool, without a thought! However, although

the sliding glass door was open, the door screen was shut and she went

right through it and landed on the pool deck. Frank, August, and Athena

just starred at her because they were not sure why grandma ran through the

screen door? The family did not know of this story until coming over later

and she and Frank told it with full on laughter. Her motherly instinct was

on red alert and nothing, not even a door screen was going to stop her from

saving her grandbaby.

All the grandchildren have a funny or sweet story of their beloved

grandmother and she of them. There are so many, this is just highlight of a

few for each of them with a title: ‘Grandma’s long lunch nap’ for Janeva and

Mariah, ‘Wild-Wild-West’ for Sheldon, ‘Blueberry Muffins’ for Shalisa and

Nicholas, ‘Porcelain Doll’ for Giavanna, ‘Navy Grandmother’ for Vinny,

‘Girl’s Pool Party’ for Athena and as you know ‘Safety Patrol’ for August.

One thing is for sure, she loved all her grandchildren and they loved her.

She cooked extra for them to have some of her food to take home, made

sure she remembered their birthdays and found the best gifts she could for

Christmas, picking out what she believed would give them happiness. Enda

did not skip a beat! Taking care of them, showing up for them when they

asked and supporting them as much as she could was so important to her.

She was a ‘Glam-Ma’ for sure!

Besides her love, humor, and glowing energy, Edna was amazing at

everything else! She decked out her home with decorations just for

everyday décor. But memorized everyone with her holiday glamour,

especially for Christmas, including a breathtaking real tree each year! Edna

was also a fantastic cook who was un-compared to others. The heart she

put into each and every meal, from the food itself but also the planning of

the menu and thinking of what each person liked to eat especially around

the holidays and birthdays. As well as much pride she took in the

presentation on how it was going to look and be served. Edna wanted for

everyone to enjoy the full experience and see the heart she put into each

meal for the ones she loved and those they loved. Many people say their

mother’s cooking was the best, however, people would say Edna’s cooking

was secretly better. If you had the pleasure to eat a meal by Edna’s hands,

you would understand why plates of food were always taken home.

Traditions, laughter, love, family and friends were so important to Edna.

However, for herself the love of music and dance was strong in her soul.

Music lifted her sprits, moved her body with happiness, and it permeated to

others around her. Watching her dance was like watching a show! Her feet

knew just the right spot to be in, the rhythm ran though her with ease, and

you could not help but to watch her at her craft. When she would dance

with her husband, Frank, people would stop and watch in awe. They were

an incredible pair on that dance floor and unstoppable. The love for music

and dance is how they fell in love. They met at a Latin dance, of which

Edna was encouraged to attend by our late grandmother. She saw this

handsome man with his moves on the dance floor and he saw this beautiful

woman watching him. He asked her to dance and then the magic

happened. Their love for each other was brought by their love of dance and

music as they were married for over 34 years. It still lives on, be assured-

“Vivir Mi Vida”, Edna.

There are so many special moments about Edna that all of us remember.

There is not enough time or pages to fully capture it all. How incredibly

beautiful she was inside and out, her loving spirit pure and without malice,

her tenderness and encouraging words. She was a person many relied on to

give them comfort, uplift them, get the best hugs and kisses from, or to help

put things into perspective. Edna did not shy away from putting someone

in their place or provide her opinion, she had sass! However, it was always

from a good place because she was very protective of those she cared about

and would do anything to make sure you were safe. Edna was a woman

who put others before herself because she was the definition of selflessness.

We all have a person who leaves a mark in our mind and on our hearts. For

many who met her, that was Edna. There is a reason why her favorite color

was yellow, because it is the color of happiness, warmth, sunshine, and

brightness. Not surprisingly, that describes Edna’s spirit perfectly.

To the strongest, most amazing, awesome, beautiful, intelligent, loving,

funny, encouraging, incredible woman-who was a good neighbor, coworker,

cousin, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, grandmother, mother and wife. The

love you have provided all of us lives on because you taught how love knows

no boundaries. It cannot be bought, told, or pushed-it just is. As the

butterflies’ flutter, we know you are reminding us all of your love. Thank

you for everything, you truly are missed and will always be one of the most

special people to have graced this earth with your presence. We love you,

God Bless You, and rest in peace our dear angel, Edna.

With Lots of Love,

Your Family