Rosa Sar Llorens

September 16, 1936 – July 29, 2025

Rosa Sar Llorens died in Auburn, Alabama from complications arising from pulmonary fibrosis.

Rosa was born in Havana, Cuba, the youngest daughter and second child of Armando Sar (Canosa), a native of San Julian de Moraime, La Corunna, Spain, and Maria Gegundez (Arias) (de Sar), a native of Balsas, Lugo, Spain. Rosa was baptized and had her first communion at the Iglesia del Carmen in Havana.

When Rosa was ten years of age, she and her three siblings were orphaned when her father died from tuberculosis in 1946. Her mother had previously died, also from tuberculosis, on December 24, 1944. She and her siblings were placed with different families. Rosa went to live with her godmother, Carmen Soto, who enrolled her first at El Colegio de la Immaculada and then at the Asilo y Creche del Vedado, a school run by the Hijas de la Caridad, where she boarded as a student until she was seventeen. Rosa was very attached to the nuns there. Thereafter, she worked as a nanny and as a sales attendant on the floor of the famed El Encanto department store before attending the Havana Business Academy.

While living in a student boarding house across the street from the University of Havana, she met her future husband, Hector Emilio Llorens (Aviles), who was a student at the University. On June 1, 1958, Rosa married Hector at the Capilla de Santa Emilia on the campus of her school, the Asilo y Creche. Following her marriage she moved to her husband's hometown, Cienfuegos, where her two eldest sons were born.

In 1961, following the Cuban Revolution, Rosa and her family came to the United States, first to Terrebonne, Louisiana and New Orleans (where her third son was born) and then to Pahokee, Florida. While living in Pahokee she obtained her BA in Elementary Education and her MA in Library Science from Florida Atlantic University. She worked for many years as an elementary school teacher, librarian, bilingual education specialist and social worker for the Palm Beach County School System. At her work, Rosa was outgoing, charismatic, tireless, and caring, making lifelong relationships with some of her students. Rosa also was an active parishioner of St Mary's Catholic Church in Pahokee, where she assisted with the annual Cuban Diner Dance, served on the Altar Society, and taught catechism classes.

After she retired, Rosa and her husband moved to Juno Beach, Florida, and spent many happy years there. Following the death of her husband, Rosa and her sister Hilda moved to Auburn, Alabama to be near Rosa's son, Hector Llorens Jr. and his wife Carolyn. She was a communicant of St Michael Archangel Catholic Church in Auburn, whose members ministered to her with love.

Rosa was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and a great friend and mentor to students.

Rosa was predeceased by her husband, sister Hilda Sar Gegundez, brother Armando Uhrbach, niece Patricia Uhrbach, nephew Fernando Z Llorens, niece Miriam Llorens Alvarez and granddaughter Sara Teresa Llorens.

Rosa is survived by her brother Manuel Sar and his wife Maria Caneda of Madrid, Spain, son and daughter-in-law, Nicolas Llorens and Rebecca Flannagan Llorens of Columbia, Missouri, son and daughter-in-law Hector Emilio Llorens, Jr. and Carolyn Shaffer Llorens of Lake Martin, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, and son and daughter-in-law Armando Llorens and Susan Golden of Suffern, New York. She is also survived by five grandchildren and two great granddaughters: Amelia Marie Llorens and Nicolas Jonathan Llorens of Columbia Missouri, John Walden Llorens, his wife Erin Hughes Llorens and daughters Evelyn Frances Llorens and Charlotte Elizabeth Llorens of Nashville Tennessee, Henry Thomas Llorens of Portland, Maine, and Elizabeth Claire Llorens and her husband Michael Chmielewski of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rosa is also survived by her nephew Angel Sar (Caneda) and his wife Clarice Nascimento, of Bogota, Colombia, her niece Maria Elena Uhrbach of Miami, Florida, and her niece Beatriz Llorens Koltis and her husband Peter Koltis of Weston, Florida.

The family wishes to express its deep appreciation to Alicia Dixon and Geraldine Fitzpatrick for their loving care of Rosa while she resided in Auburn and during her last illness.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pahokee, Florida, with an inurnment following at Foreverglades Cemetery in Belle Glade, Florida. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pahokee, Florida and St. Michael Archangel Catholic Church in Auburn, Alabama.