He represented ‘what the majority of Miami is all about.’ Remembering Tony San Pedro
Cuban exile Antonio “Tony” Angel San Pedro was a social media “star” despite posting very little. The retired businessman, Realtor and Miami success story’s daughter took care of that with so many loving pictures of her dad that her followers couldn’t help but be charmed by the sweet-faced man.
“Patricia, I had not met your father, however, you have posted so many amazing pictures that was always apparent what an amazing relationship you had with him. You both exuded so much love towards each other. I always admired you from far and feel I knew him well!”
That post on San Pedro’s memorial page, by his daughter’s friend Fari Mehdian, is reflective of so many memories Tony San Pedro inspired.
San Pedro died on July 28 of complications from hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid deep within the brain, of which he was diagnosed in 2013. He was 92.
His daughter is Emmy-winning Patricia San Pedro who, over the years, has worked as a producer at WTVJ NBC 6, a vice president at the Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald and chief of marketing at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and heads her own media firm, San Pedro Productions.
A pioneer in Cuba
Born in Havana, Cuba, on March 1, 1930, Antonio “Tony” Angel San Pedro Jimenez, a product of the island’s Belen High School, was a pioneer in Cuba, having learned and managed one of the first IBM accounting computers on the island while he worked at the electric company, Compañía Cubana de Electricidad.
But by the early 1960s, San Pedro fled Cuba’s communist rule with his wife and daughter, and the family headed to Miami Beach in 1961.
Represents Miami
“He truly represents what the majority of Miami is all about,” his daughter Patricia said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “As is the story of so many political exiles in Miami, Tony didn’t speak a word of English when he arrived. A white-collar professional in his homeland, Tony took every job he could to survive upon arrival, from selling sea horses, jewelry and professional cleaning formulas, to working as a porter and maintenance man at the Southgate Towers, Forte Towers and as a doorman at the DiLido Hotel on Miami Beach.”
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While employed at the Morton Towers on West Avenue, his identification card was stamped by Miami Beach’s nationally recognized chief of police, Rocky Pomerance, in November 1968.
In the early 1970s, with his wife, Daisy, who had experience in the wig business, San Pedro started Amazon Fashions, a wig retail store at 311 Lincoln Rd. in a second-floor suite across from a Lerner shop.
The store’s Amazon name was coined by his young daughter — nearly a quarter century before Miami Palmetto High grad Jeff Bezos founded his Amazon online retail empire in 1994.
“Imagine if we had kept that name now! I’d be rich!” Patricia San Pedro jokes.
San Pedro worked his way up into the realty business with his wife, where the pair won numerous awards during their years with Carbonell Realty and First Service Realty. San Pedro worked as a Realtor from the 1970s until the early 2000s, and loved to travel the world. He was an active volunteer with the Miami Lion’s Club.
“Tony, as he was known to most, was filled with humor until his last days. He had an over-abundance of chispa — a sassy and flirty spark that flowed through his veins, even into his 90s. He got that from his dad,” his daughter wrote in the family obituary.
Adds friend Teresita Machado in a Dignity Memorial post: “Tony was a wonderful person. He was always in a good mood. I never saw him mad or upset. He was always there for my parents and family during difficult times. He was loving, fun, hard-working, and had a smile constantly. Tony was proud of his roots but also achieved the American dream and loved this country. I will miss him but have great memories.”
Family bonds
And it’s these memories that sustain his family. There are so many in this family love story.
Shared family trips to the Galapagos Islands. A surprise gift to dad from daughter: a seat at Game 6 when the Marlins first won the World Series in 1997.
And the beach, here in Miami Beach and in Cuba, where he met his first wife, Daisy, on the white sand beaches of Santa Maria del Mar in the early 1950s.
“Mom looked like Princess Grace,” their daughter marveled.
The couple married in Havana in 1954, had their daughter in Cuba, and were wed until Daisy’s death from breast cancer at age 59 in Miami in 1991. “She didn’t sit on any committees. She wasn’t a political activist, never had a street named after her, never even had her 15 minutes of fame. Daisy San Pedro was my heroine,” Patricia wrote in a column for the Miami Herald in 1996.
“Tony always loved the beach, where he was pretty much known as a stud-muffin. Because he was all that. Handsome. In shape. A flirt. A gentleman. His inner stud muffin never died. Just ask the ladies at the assisted living facility,” his daughter said, laughing.
That brand of charm, that infectious spirit, led San Pedro to his second wife, Vivian Wever San Pedro, who survives him.
“That’s a sweet story, too. It really is,” his daughter said.
After he lost Daisy, San Pedro was introduced to Vivian by a coworker — his coworker’s mother. They were married in 1997.
From the family obituary: “As life would have it, Vivian, who was born in Aruba, shared many friends with Tony and Daisy from Aruba to Miami, and the Netherlands. She’s been an angel in his life and no doubt that their love was meant to be, and as Patricia and Vivian both believe, Daisy had a hand in their meeting. The two families became one.”
Survivors, services
In addition to his daughter, Patricia, and wife, Vivian, San Pedro’s survivors include his sister Marta Gonzalez, nephews Carlos Vallabriga and Alex Gonzalez, and stepchildren and step-grandchildren.
A viewing will be held 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, followed by burial at 1 p.m. at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South Funeral Home & Cemetery, 11655 SW 117th Ave. in Kendall. San Pedro’s family requests donations to La Ligue Contra el Cancer (The League Against Cancer).
This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 2:38 PM.
