Alba Luz Gale, the matriarch of the family…mother, grandmother, sister, aunt…passed away on the 7th of February, 2025. Born on the 9th of May, 1948, Alba is survived by her partner Gilberto Maldonado, her daughters Yanira & Alba and her son Julio, as well as grandchildren Robert, Simon, Stephanie, Jennifer, Giovanni, Julio, Denise and Michael and, nieces and nephews.
While known for her compassionate, considerate and generous nature Alba’s most significant accomplishment was raising her three children, whom she held as her pride and joy. She raised her beautiful children as a young widow. She loved her family. She was our hero.
In the early 1980s, as a single parent, Alba made the difficult decision to move from La Lima, Honduras to New York City with the sole purpose of providing a better way of life for her children. With no formal workplace training, Alba began working at factories. Alba embraced the challenges and financial adversities of raising three children by herself. She worked tirelessly to provide for her family. And she felt proud that her children became U.S. Citizens and became productive adults with children of their own.
In the early 1990s, Alba met Gilberto Maldonado who would remain her partner until the end. As Alba’s children moved on to start their own respective families, Alba moved to Cape Coral,
Florida and started work as a janitor for the public school system until her retirement.
Yet, even amongst the challenges life brought her way, Alba never wavered in her compassion for others. She unconditionally, unselfishly loved her children and supported them all her life through the many highs and difficulties of their lives. She extended a helping hand to anyone in need. She provided comfort and solace while asking little in return.
Her legacy is one of unyielding kindness and generosity. Even with little to spare, Alba continued to give and help others. Even when sick or in pain, she never faltered in caring for her loved ones more than she did for herself.
Alba and her daughters were best friends. They talked regularly. No one knew her better. Nothing brought Alba more joy than knowing her children were happy and safe. She was very grateful to know that her daughters had excellent partners.
Her wit was razor sharp and she was known to say the most shocking thing she could think of, in hopes of helping you see a new perspective. She made her whole family laugh with her outrageous and exaggerated facial expressions, and all her silly sayings. She was kind, generous and compassionate.
She loved her entire family, despite their quirks and dysfunction. She worried about them, rooted for them, protected them, forgave them, and always kept on loving them.
Alba will be desperately missed by all those that she’s left behind. Our hearts are so broken by this unexpected loss. She was one of a kind and to be loved by her was to be truly blessed.