Carmen Maria Medina Marquez

WILMINGTON – Carmen María Medina Marquez, 95, passed away peacefully at home in the arms of her loving daughter, Maria Esther Williams, on January 6, 2022.  She was born in Caquas, Puerto Rico on November 12, 1926, to her parents, Carmen María Marquez Torres, and Salvador Medina Diaz.

Carmen was a woman of boundless energy and ingenuity with many practical skills, all of which were needed to rear her daughter and three sons, while frequently moving between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland at the side of her husband, José Fontanez, a seasonal agricultural labor supervisor.  After Carmen and her husband divorced, she faced many challenges as a single parent dealing with difficult living and working conditions in Brooklyn, NY, where she was employed at a garment factory.  A stint in Vineland, NJ followed, where her children were enrolled in local schools, and where she, and they, were exposed to typical U.S. small town culture. Back in Puerto Rico, Carmen became the family matriarch, not only for her own children, but also for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her achievements as a chef (“cocinera”), expert seamstress, family sage, poet, vocalist, instrumentalist, and religious leader greatly endeared her to everyone on all occasions, both large and small. She always will be remembered as a generous, warm and caring person with God’s love in her heart, as she served the needs of not only her own family, but also of her church family at Iglésia Pentecostal de Jesús Cristo MI in Carolina, PR, the church which she helped found, construct and maintain for over 30 years.

In addition to her only daughter, Maria E. Williams (husband Richard A. Williams, Jr.) and her granddaughters, Cristina Mariel Williams and Daniela Esther Williams, Carmen is survived by two of her sons, Benjamin Fontanez of Columbia, PA, José Fontanez, Jr. (wife Ana de Jesús) of Carolina, PR, her grandson, Adam Fontanez, and their respective families, as well as her younger brother, Arturo Medina of San Juan, PR, her baby brother, Jesús Manolo Medina Marquez, her younger sister, Genobeva Medina Marquez of Queens, NY, and her baby sister, María Esther Medina Marquez of Philadelphia, Pa. She is preceded in death by her middle son, Samuel Fontanez (wife Gladys) and her grandson, Samuel Fontanez Jr.

Services for Carmen will be held in San Juan, PR on Friday-Saturday, January 14-15, 2022, at Funeraria González Lago, followed by burial at Borinquen Memorial Park in Caquas, PR. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to PlantMemorialTree.com.

Condolences may be sent to the family at [email protected].