A devoted mother, grandmother, wife, nurse, and woman of faith, Coralia faced the challenges of her final year with remarkable strength, resilience, dignity, and unconditional love.
Coralia came to the United States from Cuba as a young teenager in the late 1960s with her family, fleeing persecution and building a new life rooted in freedom, family, faith, and tradition. She remained deeply proud of her Cuban heritage while embracing the culture and traditions of her American home. She passed those values on to her sons, Emilio and Alejandro Diaz.
Coralia was preceded in death by her mother Coralia Avila and her father, Manolo Emilio Avila, as well as her beloved husband, Marcelino M. Diaz Jr. She is survived by Gloria Avila, her sister, her godson Manuel Herrera, whom she always treated as if he was her son, as well as her two sons, Emilio Diaz, and his wife Amy Lorraine Diaz, and Alejandro Diaz. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Arturo Alejandro Diaz, Xavier Emilio Diaz, Emma Diane Diaz and Sofia Lyanna Diaz.
Through her marriage to Marcelino, Coralia embraced an extended family that she loved as her own. She welcomed Esther G. Lopez, Marcelino Diaz III, and Pedro Lopez into her family with warmth and devotion, and cherished her grandchildren through marriage—Marilyn, Isabel, Petey, Marcel, Samantha, and Michael—as deeply as those born into her family.
She adored her grandchildren Artie, Xavier, Emma, and Sofia, who were truly the center of her world. She also welcomed her daughter-in-law Amy as her own daughter and extended that same warmth and love throughout her family.
Later in life, Coralia fulfilled a dream of becoming a licensed practical nurse. She cared deeply for her patients and believed that God had placed her exactly where she was needed most.
Her Catholic faith guided her throughout her life. She loved music, especially Celia Cruz, traditional salsa, The Beatles, and above all, Raphael. She also loved her telenovelas, Godzilla movies, and the many wonderfully terrible old horror films she enjoyed watching with her family.
Coralia’s strength, faith, humor, traditions, and boundless love will live on through everyone whose life she touched. May the Lord Jesus Christ keep her forever in His grace and love.
