Felicia Sanchez

Felicia Sanchez, age 88 years, of Hackensack, NJ, died peacefully on Friday, January 22, 2021 at Hackensack University Medical Center, with her cherished daughter, Marlene, holding her hand.

Born in Matanzas, Cuba, July 29, 1932, daughter of the late Jesus and Clotilde Vasquez Oliver, she was raised in Cuba and emigrated to the United States in 1962 where she lived the majority of her life in West New York, NJ.

Her story is one of childhood love, dedication to family and community, and above all else, bravery in the face of all of life’s challenges.

As a young girl in Cuba, one of Felicia’s childhood friends was a boy named Emeterio, who everyone called “Cele”. The two would become best friends while in diapers, and their friendship blossomed into true love as they grew into their teenage years.

Growing up in a rural village, Cele, in his late teens, would move to the capitol city of Havanna to get started in business. Several years later, Felicia would join him but in the 1950’s, life in Cuba was difficult and getting harder for those who were not in a strong financial position. Eventually, the couple, who married on June 21, 1952, realized that to have  better life and raise a family, they would need to escape what had become a dangerous environment in Cuba and made their way to the Cuba of the north, West New York, NJ.

It was in West New York where the couple settled down in 1962 with their only child, and light of their eyes, Marlene, coming one year later. Though the couple missed their family and friends back in Cuba, West New York provided much in the way of familiar culture and the residents there became their brothers and sisters. It was surely a struggle as neither Felicia or Cele knew the english language and American norms, but with hard work and perseverance, they found their slice of the American Dream, and did it the way this country was founded upon: by hard work and a passion for helping others.

Felicia worked for many years as a knitter with Eckmil Knitting Mill in West New York and her and Cele provided for Marlene and made sure she had all she needed and knew that she was loved.

Though she missed her family immensely, Felicia would become an ‘Abuela’, and she was so proud to help play a strong role in raising her grandchildren, who in turn learned an appreciation of their cultural heritage.

When her husband died in 2004, Felicia lost a piece of her soul, but she persevered to ensure she used her time to continue to live the life she fought so hard to attain.

Surviving are her cherished daughter and son-in-law, Marlene and Anthony McLellan; her grandchildren, Steven Gonzlalez and his wife Ashley, Brian Gonzalez, Anthony Thomas McLellan, and Melissa McLellan; many relatives in the United States and Cuba; and many friends especially made during her time in West New York, NJ.

Graveside services officiated by Rev. Matthew Marinelli, followed by inurnment at St. Magdalen Mausoleum, Flemington, NJ, were private under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Felicia’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”