‘A beautiful family.’ Loved ones mourn Guara parents, 2 daughters in Miami Beach funeral

The rain held off above St. Joseph Catholic Church in Miami Beach on Tuesday afternoon until three caskets were wheeled in for one of the first funerals for those who perished in the Champlain Towers South condo collapse in Surfside.

There was an all-white casket, a grayish blue casket and a smaller white casket with two ribbons, one pink and one purple, shared by Lucia, 10, and Emma, 4. Pink and purple were their favorite colors.

Parents Marcus Guara and Anaely Rodriguez and their two young daughters lived in unit 802 at the tower, which suddenly collapsed June 24. They were among the first residents identified as rescuers continue the painstaking process of sifting through rubble for victims.

The caskets were carried into the church through a door flanked by two groups: a group of adults, wiping tears from their eyes, and a group of five young girls, around Lucia’s age.

A Catholic Mass was held at St. Joseph’s, the Guaras’ home parish two blocks from their oceanside condo. Two cranes poked up into the sky in the background as rain poured over the church while the funeral began.

During the homily, delivered partly in English and partly in Spanish, Father Juan Sosa pointed to the baptismal font where Emma was baptized in 2016 and to the spot where Lucia had her first communion in 2019. He showed a photo of Lucia receiving the holy sacrament and then walked over to the girls’ casket and placed it on top of it, “as a symbol of her union with Christ,” he said.

“The girls were brought by Marcus and Anaely,” he said. “And now Christ has encountered them at a different stage, in a different moment, because Christ never leaves us abandoned.”

It was Sosa’s second funeral Tuesday for residents in the Champlain Towers South collapse. He also celebrated a funeral Mass for Hilda Noriega, the mother of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.

He preached the same message for both funerals, he said.

“My message is how important it is to keep family bonding together,” he said. “This society in which we live kind of takes us apart. It is so important with all the fights and inconveniences ... that family support is extremely important.”

Sosa said 12 families were registered at the parish as living in the south tower. Four got out of the building safely or had sold their property there, and eight families are or were missing.

“I called everyone immediately,” he said.

As for the Guara family, Sosa told the Herald he was “kind of grateful they found the four of them together.”

At their Mass, he prompted the congregants before him: “What are we going to ask from the Lord?”

“Patience, peace,” he answered, “and a great hope that we learn something from this terrible experience.”

A ‘beautiful family who lived in the moment’

Toward the end of the Mass, one of Marcus’ cousins, Peter Milian, delivered a eulogy in which he offered condolences to the other families affected by the tragedy and thanked the first responders, who have been working nonstop for the past 12 days.

Milian said he knows everyone has been lamenting how young the Guaras were and questioning, “Why them? Why now?” But, he said, he wants to think of them in a different way.

“It’s not about what could’ve been,” he said. ”It’s about who they were to all of us and what they still are. We must make the rest of our lives count as they made theirs.”

He described them as a “beautiful family who lived in the moment” and who treasured “the simple things like a walk on the beach, watching a movie together, having dinner.”

He read aloud a social media post Anaely shared for Emma’s first birthday.

The mother wrote, he said: “Our beautiful Em is having an anniversary. Love you, monkey. You’re growing so fast. Soon you’ll be sleeping through the night. I am enjoying your giggles.”

He also played a video of Marc and a younger Lucia, both ardent University of Miami fans, in which the father asked his daughter, “y cómo se dice, it’s great ...”

“To be a Miami Hurricane!” Lucia screamed in reply.

Marc is a graduate of UM and was captain of the rowing team. Anaely is a graduate of Florida International University.

Marc had recently shared a story about Lucia handing him an envelope stuffed with cash from birthdays and the Tooth Fairy, addressed to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Lucia, a student at Ruth K. Broad/Bay Harbor Islands K-8 who earned a Bobcat Honor Roll medal for her hard work, told her father that the children treated at the hospital, which specializes in childhood cancer and other pediatric disease, “need it more than I do.”

Anaely’s sister, Digna Rodriguez, also spoke at the church, stopping every now and then to take deep breaths to avoid breaking down in tears.

She chronicled each of their personalities, mentioning how Marc, a conversationalist and skilled salesman, and Anaely, a thinker and a yoga fanatic, both liked the ocean.

Marc participated as different characters in Lucia’s made-up shows and completed obstacle courses designed by Emma. Anaely “lived for her daughters and her family.”

She described Lucia — “Lulubear” — as “a child full of innocence and pure love” who loved outer space and game nights. Lucia enjoyed dancing with her mom, watching “Jeopardy!“ with her dad — and “being her sissy’s favorite person.”

She characterized Emma — “Little Em” — as an artist and “a princess — an actual princess,” who “spent many days on this Earth dressed as such, complete with crown and a magical wand ... a sweet and strong-willed princess that would’ve captivated any kingdom.”

Emma enjoyed cuddling her mom, riding on her dad’s back — and “being her sissy’s favorite person.”

Digna Rodriguez finished off: “May we all connect with family as Lucia would. May we all move with grace through this world as Emma would. May we all be as devoted and loyal as Marc and Anaely were.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 10:30 PM.