Armando Luis De Jesus

Armando Luis de Jesús of Sanford, FL, the "perfect" son of the late Harold and Anita de Jesus, born on May 2, 1954 in Miami, FL, passed away peacefully with his wife and daughter by his side at home on July 13, 2022 due to complications from Multiple Sclerosis. He is survived by his best friend and loving wife of 31 years, Mary Kay. Married on June 22, 1991, they became a blended family of three children, later raising two of their grandchildren.

Armando (Pop Pop) will be lovingly remembered as a supportive brother to siblings Richard (Jackie) deJesus and Melody deJesus, a caring father to children Diana (Craig) Baker, Bryan (Shannan) deJesus and Jason (Sharon) Springer, a role model and surrogate father to nephews Alex deJesus and Michael (Carole) Mendez, and as an exceptional grandfather to Erica (William) Garcia, Thomas Springer, Caitlyn and Nicholas Cameron, Rylee and Nathan Baker, Henry deJesus, and great-granddaughters Rosalia and Giselle Garcia.

Armando grew up in Miami, FL, attended Miami-Dade County public schools and George T. Baker Aviation School. He graduated from Miami Southwest Senior High in 1972 and later earned a Bachelor's Degree from St. Leo University. In 1973 he joined the National Guard and ultimately reached the rank of officer. Armando started his career with IBM in 1978 in the service division where he worked his way into management until he left in 1993. After which he went to work for Kronos (UKG) in sales support and management until MS forced his early retirement in 2019.

Armando embodied the persona of giving back to the community and living life to the fullest. He served as a board member for the Alzheimer's Association of Miami-Dade, mentored children at local schools, volunteered with multiple youth sports programs and was a milestone blood donor. He had a wide range of passions which included riding motorcycles, car shows, all genres of music from Linda Ronstadt to Pitbull, cheesy movies, politics, traveling, spending time with his family and sharing future dreams with his wife.

As a converted Catholic, Armando was dedicated to the life of Christ. His spiritual strengths were apparent throughout his life through his kindness, patience, mercy, leadership, discernment, encouragement, and faith. Before his MS diagnosis, he was blessed to have attended mass and received communion with Mary Kay at both Notre Dame, Paris, France and St. Peter's, Rome, Italy. The family of Armando would like to offer special thanks to Father Jeremiah of All Souls Catholic Church for giving Extreme Unction (Healing Rites) and to Vitas Hospice for the quality care provided by staff members.

If Armando were here he would say, " Our children are our future, we must learn to share, have empathy and love all no matter what, have a sense of humor and look at the bright side, never drive a car over 80000 miles and never go slower than the speed limit, be the best at whatever you do, take care of my grandbabies, pass along my sarcasm to the next generation and I love you more!"