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Isabel "Beli" Garcia passed away peacefully in her home on Simonton Street in Key West on Sept. 2, 2023. She was 93 years old, born in Key West on Nov. 5, 1929. Isabel grew up living the charmed island life of a bygone Key West. The daughter of Key West cigar makers, Efigenio and Mercedes Hernandez, she grew up surrounded by a tight-knit community of family and life-long friends. Isabel was the original family storyteller and conveyed to her children and grandchildren what it was like to grow up in a much simpler Key West of yesteryear.
Isabel met the love of her life, "Goyo," by chance, as she sat reading a book under a Spanish lime tree in a park while relaxing on a weekend hop to Havana with her friends. He later inquired about her to mutual friends, they met and the rest was history.

They were married in 1958 and started their life and family on Simonton Street. Isabel lived a life dedicated to family. She raised three children and helped raise her nephew, who she loved as a son, as well as her six grandchildren, all of whom she cherished with all her heart and soul.

Like a true Conch, Beli loved her porch on Simonton Street. It was her window to the island life, the original coconut telegraph. Until these recent days, you would see her in the late afternoon sitting out there, with Goyo by her side, conversing with neighbors and passing tourists. This was a tradition that began when she would sit on the porch as a child by her grandfather as he told stories of life in Cuba.
Isabel was an amazing cook, and she did it effortlessly. Her Key lime pie was the best on the island; if you ever had her plantain soup or bread pudding, you knew it was something special.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Efigenio and Mercedes, and her brother, Angel Alvarez. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Gregorio "Goyo" Garcia; her two sons, Manuel (Anita) Garcia, Wayne (Angie) Garcia, and her daughter, Yvonne (Danny) Gallardo; her grandchildren, Andrea (Paul) Runk, Janell (Derrick) Conatser, Andre (Cristina) Gallardo, Gregory Garcia, Alicia (Sam) Garcia and Francesca Garcia; her nephew, Sergio (Cionin) Alvarez, and her grandnieces, Paula (Tony) Ramos and Andrea Alvarez; and her great-grandchildren, Liam Runk, Nolan Runk, Hudson Conatser and Grayson Conatser. She is also survived by her two first cousins Carmi Alvarez-Smith and Mary Grimes, who she loved like sisters.

Services for Isabel will be held at The Basilica of St. Mary's Star of the Sea in Key West on Friday, Sept. 8, at 3 p.m.
The family would like to thank the visiting nurses from Amedisys Home Health Care and a special thanks to her loving caregiver, Erelia Veiguela. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted with the Dean Lopez Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Key West Wildlife Center, http://www.keywestwildlifecenter.org or The Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea High School Capital Beginnings Campaign at https://basilicaschoolkeywest.com/high-school-capital-campaign-from-start-to-finish/. 305-294-1031 or 700 Truman Ave., Key West, FL 33040.