- Date Of Birth: April 27, 1931
- Date Of Death: April 8, 2018
- State: Virginia
Francisca (Paquita) Soto Nieves, age 86, of Nokesville, VA departed her earthly life on Sunday, April 8, 2018 at the Reston Hospital. She was born on April 27, 1931 in Comerio, Puerto Rico, the daughter of Ramon Soto and Claudina Nieves (both deceased). She had ten siblings which she adored. She was preceded in death by her sister: Serafina and brothers: Valentin, Ramon, Jose, Norberto, Celestino, Leonicio and Luis. In the mid 1950’s she moved to New York to marry her sweetheart Felix Merced (now deceased) of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico and they eventually settled in Bridgeport, CT. They are survived by three children: Margie Merced and husband Orlando Rivera of Nokesville, VA, Felix A. Merced of Dorado, Puerto Rico, William Merced and wife Ana Maria of Fredericksburg, VA; eight grandchildren, Victor, Luis, Felix A., Yesenia, Melinda, Emmanuel, Mariana, William and one step-grandchild, Jose; and eight great grandchildren, Ashley, Michelle, Vanessa Rose, Yeshua, Meraris, Sofia, Daniel and Sofia Lorena. Paquita became a strong woman early in life when she was faced with the task of raising her three young children without a spouse. Thankfully, extended family members on both sides helped keep a watchful eye. In 1974, she and her children moved to Puerto Rico and once again, family members on both sides, were there as support. Paquita continued to do all she could to pass on her strong moral and religious views and values to her children despite progressive and debilitating illnesses. She always said “Dios ayudame” (God help me) “con la ayuda de Dios’ (with God’s help) “y si Dios quiere” (if God permits) she would ccomplish her goals. She knew she could not do anything without God’s helping hand. In 1990 she moved to Virginia with her daughter and continued to help raising her two grandchildren Victor and Luis with the same moral and religious values. Paquita loved to read and study the bible. Her grandson Victor described it with an image of being in the front of the classroom with her arm lifted high, swaying back and forth, asking Jesus questions, always yearning to learn more. She was baptized in the spirit when she moved to Virginia after witnessing her daughter and her two boys being baptized. She loved and was very proud of all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She had many stories to remember and pictures of all her family members and would spend time reminiscing. In her spare time she loved gardening, sewing, knitting and playing bingo and dominoes. She was funny because she was very competitive and went to great lengths to win at dominoes. Family and friends remember Paquita as very cheerful, loved conversation, sang decimas jibaras (PR folklore songs) and loved to dance (merengue). She occasionally would get inspired around Christmas time (her daughter would call it quot;making noisequot;) with small musical instruments (el guiro, el accordion) or simply clapping while she sang decimas around the house. She also loved tending to her parakeets which kept her occupied during the day and was especially happy because they had recently begun to multiply and multiply. She leaves to cherish her memories to her immediate family, her remaining sister, Faustina (Tina) Soto and brother, Eleuterio (Manolo) Soto and more that 50 nieces and nephews. She was loved by those who came to know her due to her cheerful and occasional mischievous spirit. Her friends, Nedi and Florence will certainly miss her.
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