Silvia Ester Alcoz Basarrate passed away peacefully in her home on December 2, 2022, after a long illness.
Silvia was born in La Habana, Cuba, on December 14, 1938. She is predeceased by her parents, Gaudiosa Candano and Adriano Alcoz, her sisters Marita Rodriguez of Kansas City and Sr. Marta Alcoz of the Sacred Heart of Puerto Rico, and her brother, Adriano Alcoz of Clearwater, Florida. She is survived by her husband, Armando Basarrate, her son, Armando Basarrate II and wife Louisa, and her daughter, Anne Marie Fitz, M.D. and husband Robert, and her grandchildren, Sophia Basarrate, Christopher Fitz, Jonathan Fitz, and Matthew Fitz, along with several nieces and nephews.
Silvia studied architecture at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomàs de Villanueva. She came to the United States from Cuba in 1960, after the revolution there disrupted the life she had known. She married Armando in 1961, and they were a devoted pair for over 60 years. Silvia and Armando lived in Atlanta for the early years of their marriage, along with their dear friends Leo and Silvia Cancio, until they moved to Chattanooga. Silvia had a long career as an architect, designing churches (including St. Jude Catholic Church where she was a parishioner for almost 60 years), school and university buildings, commercial buildings, and recreational park structures in the Chattanooga area and other parts of the region.
Silvia was an exceptionally kind, generous, and empathetic wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, colleague, parishioner, and volunteer. She touched many lives with her kind spirit and warm smile. She was a devoted Catholic with a deep faith that she lived out every day. She was an exemplary person.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the St. Jude School tuition assistance fund or St. Jude Catholic Church.
A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at St. Jude Catholic Church, 930 Ashland Terrace Chattanooga, Tennessee. A visitation with family preceding the funeral mass will begin at 12:00 noon.