Flor Marina Garcia Hinojosa passed away peacefully at the age of 92 on Thursday, July 18, 2019 in Pensacola, Florida. Marina was born in Mission, Texas on October 3, 1926 and grew up in Kingsville, Texas. She was the third-born and first daughter of Severiano and Aurelia (Narvaez) Garcia. Upon losing her mother at the young age of ten, Marina was like a second mother to her six siblings, Genaro, Santana, Lydia, Gloria, Severiano, and Ernesto. Her father later married her stepmother, Santos. With that union, Marina gained three half-sisters: Alma, Maria Luisa, and Lucilla. She learned business skills by working in her Aunt and Uncle's grocery store in Kingsville, Texas. Cosmetology school followed in the big city of Corpus Christi. She met her husband, Jose "Joe" Hinojosa in a case of mistaken identity. Joe thought she was someone else when he drove by and hollered, "Hello!" This chance encounter fostered a romance. Marina and Joe were married in the Catholic Church on September 2, 1951. They honeymooned in Mexico during Labor Day weekend at an overbooked resort—the joke was on them when they had to sleep in separate male and female dorms! She and Joe remained in Corpus Christi, Texas where Joe worked at the Naval Air Station as an aircraft mechanic for Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF).

The family grew with the births of daughters, Celeste and Brenda. All were sweetly settled in a vogue-for-the-day, pink house when in 1959, NARF at the Corpus Christi Navy Base closed. This started a whole new chapter for this Tex-Mex family. Given the choice of relocating to Alameda Naval Air Station near San Francisco or Pensacola Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, Marina and Joe chose Pensacola, the "City of Five Flags". The transfer was made in a 1959 Chevrolet Parkwood red and white, winged station wagon. With only a few also-transferred friends in Pensacola, Marina took on the role of Florida mom with enthusiasm to make new ones. She joined the Bud 'n' Bloom Garden Club, was a Homeroom Mom, and a Girl Scout Leader. For her "spare time", a neighbor recruited the nicknamed "Minnie" to be an Avon Lady, a fifty-year plus career that provided her with lifelong friends.

In 1966, Marina was diagnosed with Addison's Disease, an affliction in which the adrenal glands do not function. Although she suffered poor health from the struggle to medicate in the right amounts and its effect on her body, she never let it get her down. She immensely enjoyed travel, venturing to Europe an entire summer with Celeste in 1975. However, she always relished coming home to her beloved Pensacola.

Mothering was her specialty. As an adult, she would step in when nieces, nephews, and friends needed an extra helping of TLC. Her excellent sewing skills were appreciated by all who knew her. She could look at a dress in a store window and copy it seam for seam. Marina cooked Mexican delicacies at home long before Pensacola had even heard of Taco Bell. The girls' friends loved to be invited (or invite themselves) to dinner. All were welcome at the Hinojosa household. Her desserts were only outdone by her beautifully hand-decorated cakes, baked for birthdays when the whole class was invited to the home.

After Brenda and Celeste married and left home, Marina and Joe parted ways, neither remarrying. They would remain friends and treasure shared memories.

Grandchildren came along in the 80's. Grandma Minnie took great delight in caring for and entertaining these blessings all her days. As she aged, these precious children and young adults took over in the caring department—their entertainment came naturally, as they all developed Grandma Minnie's sense of humor.

Late in life, Marina took up ballroom dancing. She loved everything about it: dressing in her glittery finest, good music, pot-luck dinners, and making more new friends. She threw herself an early 80 ^th birthday bash in 2005, complete with dance band. Relatives from across the country were in attendance. Joe was invited and shared a last dance with Marina. He would pass in 2007.

Marina's good health began to be challenged in 2010. She became more homebound and dependent on assistance. In 2014, she became a resident of Bay Breeze Senior Living and Rehabilitation in Gulf Breeze, Florida. In 2017, Haven of Our Lady of Peace in Pensacola became her final home. She enjoyed the spiritual enrichment, many activities, superb staff, enthralling entertainment--and again, the friends she made while there. She lost her best friend at the Haven, Betty Ward, in June. You could say that Marina's life was all about friends. For if you knew her, you were forever her friend and she was forever yours.

Marina is preceded in death by her mother and father, Severiano and Aurelia Garcia; stepmother Santos Garcia; brothers Genaro, Santana, and Severiano Garcia; and half-sister Maria Luisa Jimenez.

Marina is survived by her sisters Lydia Movick and Gloria Ledford; brother Ernesto (Dietlinde) Garcia; half-sisters Alma Barrientes and Lucilla (Lorenzo) Arispe; daughters Celeste (Rick) Whisenant and Brenda (Steve) Marshall; her grandchildren Holiday Whisenant, Brittain and Marina Marshall; and her great-grandson, Bennett Abbott; and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 22, at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel in Pensacola, with a Catholic Rosary being prayed the first 30 minutes. A Funeral Mass will be held at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola on Tuesday, July 23, at 10 a.m. with Father Jacob Jaks officiating. Entombment is to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery Mausoleum in Pensacola, with a reception afterwards at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart's Ave Maria Hall.

Pallbearers will be nephews Richard and Christopher Garcia; sons-in-law Rick Whisenant and Steve Marshall; and family friends Wayne Lambert and Bill Talley.

Marina's family thanks all the healthcare providers and friends who have selflessly cared for her through the years. You know who you are! The family also appreciates all who wish to honor Marina's memory.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider performing an act of kindness in Marina's name. She was so appreciative of the beautiful life God granted her and believed in paying it forward . . .