Karen Elizabeth Guito passed away on April 20, 2019 at her home in Tampa. She was surrounded by her family and friends when she peacefully passed. Survivors include her daughter, Michelle E. Nunez, her grandchildren Maxwell Graham Valdes-Nunez, Gilbert M. Perdomo, Jr., Brandon L. Eady, Brian S. Eady, Michael J. Perdomo, Julianne G. Guito, Ralph Mason Guito, IV, and her great-granddaughter, Gabriella A. Eady. Other survivors include her stepdaughter, Deborah J. Perdomo, her stepson, Ralph M. Guito, III, and her daughter-in-law, Karen A. Guito. Others include her cousins, her neighbors, and her dear friends and colleagues.
Karen was born on July 25, 1950. Growing up in the 1950’s, she was immersed in her faith, and had childhood dreams of having a peaceful home, and cooking wonderful meals for her family. She became a child of the 60’s, however, embracing Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Joan Baez. She armed herself with her guitar and her lovely soprano voice and was an accomplished folksinger joining a group with her life-long friend Dr. Linda “Bunny” Carson to play gigs for WFLA, WEDU, Bayfront Center International Folk Festival, and Beaux Arts. She married Robert Nunez soon after graduating from Plant High School and had her daughter, Michelle. Later, she married Ralph M. Guito, Jr., a prominent Tampa attorney, and also worked as his litigation paralegal, drafting complex legal documents and managing a successful law practice.
Karen was a woman who had an abiding and complex intelligence and for many years was immersed in the rule of law. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 1995, with honors, magna cum laude, and then graduated from St. Thomas School of Law in 1998. She became a member of the Florida Bar in 1998. She then served on the Board of Advisors to the St. Thomas School of Law and acted as Judge in the Susan J. Farrell Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition between 2005 and 2015. She also received an award for Outstanding Young Alumni Professionalism and Service to St. Thomas University. She continued her service after leaving law school serving on the Ethics Committee of the Florida Bar, and served two consecutive terms as Chair of the Hillsborough County Law Fair, a legal outreach program that provides legal services and resources to indigent neighborhoods in the Tampa Bay area.
Notwithstanding her public service in the legal community, Karen maintained an active legal practice aggressively and compassionately representing her clients in areas of family law, business litigation, personal injury and wrongful death. She was also part of a trial team that received the then highest jury verdict award in Pasco County in 2005. She was highly respected among her colleagues, and an activist for intercultural human rights. Most importantly, Karen’s life was centered around being a beloved member of her family, and a true friend to those who were blessed to know her. She will be truly missed by all.
Visitation will be held on Friday, April 26, 2019 at 6 p.m. at the Tampa Woman’s Club located at 2901 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa, FL 33629. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 27, at 11:00 a.m. at the Tampa Woman’s Club followed by internment services at the Hillsboro Memorial Cemetery located at 2323 West Brandon Blvd., Brandon, FL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her honor to Seasons Hospice of Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation, Chester Ferguson Law Center, 1610 N. Tampa, St., Tampa, 33602.
