Lucy Segarra-Rojas

On Friday, November 28, 2025, Lucy Segarra-Rojas passed away peacefully, hours after her 94th birthday. From the moment of her birth until the time she left us for God’s embrace, Lucy lived wholly from the heart. Later in life, when asked about her accomplishments, she answered simply, “Loving my family and hope that they love me.” For the family, we say: You are love, Lucy. And in return, we love you with all our own hearts.

Lucy was born into New York’s Spanish Harlem in 1931, during the Great Depression. Lucy remembered her Mom, Mercedes, as “the most sweet and understanding person you could ever hope to meet” -- a volunteer at the Red Cross and the unwavering rock of the household. Her father, Eduardo Segarra, was a semi-pro boxer come to New York from Puerto Rico to make a life for his family. He labored at the docks, and was later a strong and respected voice in the dockworker’s union. From them, Lucy inherited both deep compassion and extraordinary focus.

Her mother Mercedes never learned to speak English fluently. Yet when Lucy came home with her first-grade English textbook, her mother told her -- with an exacting and severe expression -- to eat every line, as they were in America now, and Lucy’s future depended on it. As we will see, Lucy did that - and then some.

If you asked Lucy in later years about her childhood, Lucy would brush aside any mention of hardship. Instead, she would delight in recalling her cut-out dolls, rope skipping, potsy, and jacks, the Sunday-morning movies, and the evenings gathered around the family radio listening to Fibber McGee and Molly, The Shadow, Terry and the Pirates. She remembered the bright lights of Coney Island at night, when her father would take the whole family there, all of them laughing. She cherished her grandmother Josefa, who Lucy knew she could count on for anything, and who always made her feel special by taking Lucy along whenever she visited relatives.

Lucy also grew especially close to her brother and cousins Ed, Archie, Gloria, Miriam, Frankie, Billy, and Efrie --- the “collective” as they called it. They saw each other as an intrinsic part of a close-knit group. They kept that closeness throughout their lives, with their shared stories and references giving their bonds a sense of timelessness. And Lucy kept in touch faithfully, -- remembering every milestone, every family detail, and every birthday among her cousins and nieces and nephews.

As Lucy later said, “We were happy as a family. Always aware that no matter what happened we had someone who would share with us the good and bad.”

By her teenage years, childhood pastimes had given way to work. Lucy became an indispensable executive assistant in cosmetics, and her astounding fluency in both English and Spanish opened new doors and markets, including for established brands, such as Oil of Olay. Lucy was intensely proud of her work, she knew her value, and her career was one of the cornerstones of her life.

Lucy carried her sense of style with her always, even in her later years -- with her blouse, sweater, and pants always perfectly coordinated, and always insisting on heels instead of flats. And she would always keep her sociable warmth and share her positive outlook and joy. As one of her cousins said, “The first thing I think of about Lucy is her laugh. She would be amazed and delighted by some observation and her laugh would rise and curl around from deep inside.”

Lucy is survived by her dear friends Ester and Rachel, her cousin Billy, and by her nieces and nephews Lisa, Dan, Steven and Lauren.

A Catholic prayer service is scheduled at 3 pm of December 10 at Marion Nelson Funeral Home, and will be livestreamed. Condolences can be sent to the family at www.marionnelsonfuneralhome.com. Lucy’s ashes will be interred in a separate private ceremony in the Borinquen Memorial Park in Puerto Rico, next to her mother and father.

In place of flowers, Lucy would be honored if contributions were made to St. Ann’s Food Pantry in Haines City.