Juan A. Urive, 66, of Tampa, Florida, passed away on February 14, 2019, at the Bay Pines Veterans Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was born in Monmouth, New Jersey and served his country in the United States Army where he was an 82nd Airborne Medic Paratrooper. That program defined and shaped him into a wonderful man. His time in the service was a highlight of his life. He was proud to serve his country and follow in his father’s footsteps.
Juan was a man who loved his family and also loved good food, photography and Gasparilla. He was always the man behind the camera documenting life. His father taught him how to use the camera.
He was going to celebrate his 30th year of sobriety this year. He was very active in his church, First United Methodist Church of Lutz. He managed and trained all the acolytes of the church. He was always helping others by being the handyman. You could also find him every Monday at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz attending their Celebrating Recovery Group. He would mentor and encourage people in that group.
His Celebration of Life will be March 2 at 2:00 PM at First United Methodist Church of Lutz. He will be interred with Military Honors at Florida National Cemetery on March 5, 2019 at 11:30 AM.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Juan’s name to the Acolyte Program at First United Methodist Church, 960 W Lutz Lake Fern Road, Lutz, Florida 33548 or Celebration of Recovery at Idlewild Baptist Church 18333 Exciting Idlewild Blvd. Lutz, Florida 33548.
I was saddened to hear about the passing of Mr. Urive. He was a student of mine at Hillsborough Community College over 20 years ago, and later became a friend, and assisted in remodeling my house. We had many good conversations and I know he loved his family. I miss you, Mr. Urive.
My very deepest condolences to all of Urive’s loved ones. We through his mother, who I loved dearly. I just felt drawn to him. I watched him with his daughter and especially his grand-daughter, and got to know him while wrangling to get him to have a photo in the church directory. His wry sense of humor would sneak up on me and leave me laughing inside for days. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to see him for so long before he left, but I know I’ll run into him again eventually. Take care and know that he was a good soul.