Benita Rodriguez Chao
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Born in Guines, Cuba to Catalina Rodriguez and Juan Rodriguez. She is from a family of eight brothers and sisters.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Armando Jack Chao, (Tampa, Florida) of 59 1/2 years. They met and married in Cuba, December 3, 1941, four days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. She lived in Jacksonville Beach until her death. Benita is survived by her two daughters, Vivian Chao Merritt and Esther Sugarman (Steve), two sisters, Hortensia Conklin of Miami and Maria Amelia Rodriguez of Havana, Cuba, one brother, Eliodoro Rodriguez, (Dulce) Cuba, granddaughters Heather Correia, Lydia Roberts, Cathleen Collett, one grandson Shane Merritt, great grandsons, Chase Merritt, Keanan Maurice, Tristan Collett and two great-granddaughters, Stevey Roberts and Aviana Merritt.
A graveside service will be held in honor of Benita at Hardage-Giddens Chapel Hills Memory Gardens, 850 St. John's Bluff Road North, Jacksonville, Florida 32225, on Monday, April 26, 2021 at 12:00 PM. Hardage-Giddens Chapel Hills Funeral Home is proud to serve the family.