Corazon Estrada

Corazon Lanuza Estrada, beloved widow, mother, and grandmother, was a retired registered nurse and longtime resident of Tampa, FL who passed away in her sleep at her daughter’s home on January 4, 2022 at the age of 80 years.

“Cora” was born on November 8, 1941 to Consorcia Perete and Geronimo Lanuza in Putiao, Pilar, Sorsogon, Philippines. A graduate of St. Agnes Academy in Legaspi City and the Colegio de Santa Isabel in Naga City, she earned her nursing degree from the San Juan de Dios Hospital School of Nursing in Pasay City prior to moving to the United States in 1965. At various points in her career, she was a licensed registered nurse in the Philippines, New York, New Jersey, and Florida, including work at M. Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City in 1966 followed by the medical and surgical departments of various hospitals in New York and New Jersey over the next seven years. She worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in New York from 1973-1974 prior to moving to Florida where she joined the staff of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa in 1975 as an RN in the urology, medical and surgical department where she remained on staff until her retirement in November of 2001.

Prior to her nursing career, Cora enjoyed multiple extracurricular activities growing up including literary editor, drama, debate, public speaking, and music. As an adult, she was a dedicated wife and mother, a loving grandmother, an excellent cook, a talented dance partner, and a perpetual photographer well-known for capturing the important moments of the lives of her family and friends with her camera. In 1984, she became a U.S. citizen, eventually becoming a part of a thriving Filipino American community. Last but not least, she was known for her Catholic faith and for her love of singing as a long-time parishioner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and an avid member of their choir.

Cora is preceded in death by her late husband, Valentin Estrada; her parents, Consorcia Perete and Geronimo Lanuza; her aunts, Elizabeth Orticio and Consolacion de Hitta; and her cousins Carmen Illo and Vicente Lanuza. She is survived by her daughter, Catherine Estrada Uy; her daughter, Christina Estrada Lee and husband Jason Lee; her brother, Bernardo Lanuza and wife Lourdes Baranda Lanuza; her sisters, Mercedes L. Gruet and husband Wilfredo Gruet, Pureza L. Wong and husband Romeo Wong, and Eva L. Marchan and husband Jaime Marchan; as well as her six grandchildren, Donovan Conrad E. Uy, Diego E. Uy and wife Debbie Amaris Uy along with their son Dante Amaris Uy, Cameron Ava E. Uy, Connor W. Lee, Alexa K. Lee, and Portia S. Lee.

The family will receive visitors paying their last respects at Blount and Curry Funeral Home-Carrollwood at 3207 W. Bearss Ave, Tampa on Wednesday, 1/12/22 from 5 to 7 PM. Funeral services will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 15520 N. Blvd, Tampa at 10 AM on Thursday, 1/13/22 followed by her burial alongside her late husband at Sunset Memory Gardens at 11005 US-301, Thonotosassa.

Masks/precautions are recommended by the family, if possible, out of respect for Cora’s concern for the welfare of her friends and family during the current pandemic.