Obituary – Fernando Z. Llorens
July 20, 2022

Fernando Z. Llorens, 71, of Stuart, Florida, passed away on July 10, 2022, surrounded by loving family. He was born on November 5, 1950, in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to Ada V. Llorens and Fernando N. Llorens. Fernando emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1962 at the age of 11 with his family. Initially, they settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He eventually joined his parents and his sisters Miriam and Beatriz in the small farming town of Belle Glade, Fla., in the 1970s.

With a knack for math, science, and taking things apart and putting them back together (sometimes ending up with extra parts and leftover pieces), Fernando obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1986. He went on to have a successful career in the sugar industry, working in various leadership capacities at sugar refineries in the Glades area and earning his Professional Engineer license. Fernando was also past president of the American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists.

In 2017, after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, Fernando received a life-saving lung transplant at Tampa General Hospital, which blessed his family and friends with more than five additional years with him. His family is grateful to the transplant team, his doctors and nurses at Tampa General, and especially the incredibly generous organ donor and their family, for the gift of additional time to make more wonderful, lasting memories with Fernando.

Fernando's greatest joys were being with his wife Gail and daughter Cristina, spending time on the water on his boat 'the Cocoliso,' being in the Bahamas and the Keys, playing the drums to classic and southern rock, tinkering with his HAM radio equipment, and spending time with his family and loved ones. He was also a pilot for many years, having flown with the Civil Air Patrol. As someone who embraced life and lived it to its fullest, he was incredibly loved and will be missed greatly. Fernando is survived by his wife Gail, daughter Cristina (David), stepson Paul (Judy), four grandchildren (Victoria, Elizabeth, Christopher and Timothy), sister Beatriz (Peter), brother-in-law Jose, four nieces and one nephew, one great-niece, one great-nephew, and two beloved pups Cooper and Bradley. He was predeceased by his parents, Fernando (1993) and Ada (2018), and his sister, Miriam (2013).

Services will be held on Saturday, July 23, at 10 a.m., at St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church in Belle Glade, Fla., followed by internment at Forest Hills Memorial Park in Palm City, Fla. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Tampa General Hospital Transplant Institute at www.tgh.org/foundation.