Hilda Noriega was her family’s ‘heart and soul.’ Police chief’s mom is 12th Surfside victim
For Hilda Noriega, family always came first, but the 92-year-old mom and grandmother had a natural ability to spread her love around and touch the lives of people she didn’t even know.
“She was the sweetest, the most loving and most generous person I knew,” said Michael Noriega, her grandson. “She was 92. But she was going on 62. Her energy was boundless.”
Family members and Miami-Dade police on Wednesday confirmed that a 12th person found dead in the rubble of the Champlain Towers South building collapse in Surfside was Noriega, the mother of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega. Noriega, who lived in Apt. 602, was the only person whose remains were recovered Tuesday, Miami-Dade police said.
Noriega was Carlos’ last surviving parent and they were very close, his son Michael said Wednesday.
“I feel sadness and confusion, and to watch my father, he is just so broken to see his last living parent gone. It’s been very, very difficult. But our faith is in God, because he’s here with us,” Michael Noriega said.
Michael and Carlos rushed to the site just an hour after the collapse and while walking through debris that had been scattered around the building they found some of Hilda’s belongings.
“We arrived at around 2:30 in the morning because we had heard that something had happened to the building... There was a lot of debris around the building; my father stepped on something and when he looked down, he found this card that was given to my grandmother by friends in her prayer group,” he said. The birthday card, decorated with colorful butterflies, has several messages written in different handwriting, he said.
Michael’s mother Sally later found two photos, one of Hilda, her husband and an infant Carlos in between them and another of the couple when they were younger on a beach.
Hilda Noriega, who moved to Miami from Cuba in 1960, had lived at Champlain Towers South for nearly 20 years. She had recently listed her two-bedroom, two-bath “beautiful beachfront” apartment for sale and was planning to move in with family, her grandson said.
“She had been thinking about moving for the past five years or so but she was still very independent. I think she just wanted to be closer to us,” Michael said, adding that he had talked to his grandma the day before the disaster.
He said that among her many talents, Noriega had a knack for immediately recognizing when people needed her help. Sometimes it meant helping family with practical things, but among her most precious gifts were the advice and guidance she generously gave to those around her, he said.
“The Noriegas have lost the ‘heart and soul’ and ‘matriarch’ of their family, but will get through this time by embracing the unconditional love Hilda was known for,” the family said in a statement sent through North Bay Village government. “The family has asked for privacy as they deal with this horrific and painful loss.”
The family thanked “the hundreds of first responders who bravely and selflessly risked their lives” to locate Noriega and the other victims. The statement also thanked elected officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Sen. Marco Rubio and state Sens. Jason Pizzo and Lauren Book for their “unprecedented leadership, courage and compassion during this extremely difficult time.”
Levine Cava on Wednesday updated the collapse death toll to 18. Still missing: 145 people. The 11 other victims had already been identified by police.
In addition to Noriega, the victims are: Marcus Joseph Guara, 52; Frank Kleiman, 55; Michael Altman, 50; Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Luis Bermúdez, 26; Ana Ortiz, 46, Bermúdez’s mother; Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74; Stacie Fang, 54,; Anthony Lozano, 83; Gladys Lozano, 79, and Manuel LaFont, 54.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 8:47 AM.
.jpg)
