Carmen Rivas

Carmen Rivas, nee Josefina del Carmen Garcia y Garcia, 65, died May 20, 2016, in Apopka, Florida with her two children by her side. She was born on March 19, 1951 in Santa Clara, Cuba, to Hortensia Garcia and Jose Manuel Garcia. She moved to Miami, Florida in 1967 and married Manuel Rivas in 1971. Her career in education spanned thirty years, beginning in 1980 as a teacher's aide, and later working as a bookkeeper until completing her Bachelor of Arts in Education degree with Honors from Nova Southeastern University in 1995. From 1995-2003, she was a beloved kindergarten teacher at Louise S. McInnis Elementary School in DeLeon Springs, Florida. After moving back to S. Florida, she taught pre-kindergarten in Broward County until 2010. She was very passionate about teaching and early childhood education. She believed in the public education system. She is survived by her son, Ruben Rivas, her daughter, Monica Rivas Varnado, and two grandchildren, Aiden Varnado and Kaitlyn Varnado, of Longwood, Florida. Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, West Altamonte Chapel, has been entrusted with arrangements.