Louis Alvarez 88 of Palm Coast Florida passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday September 23 2012. Louis is survived by his loving wife Maria of 62 years and his three sons Louis Alex Eric his sister Esperanza Picado and cousin Bertha Perez. Louis was also the loving grandfather of 8 grandsons: Bradley Alex Jason Carlos Ryan Nicholas Sean and Andrew.
Louis was preceded in death by his parents Jose Antonio and Esperanza. Louis was born in Niagara Falls New York after his parents immigrated from Spain but he returned to Spain with his family at the age of seven. While a youth in Spain Louis demonstrated his athletic ability and competitive drive by competing in track and field and was selected for Spain's National Cross Country Track Team. He attended and graduated from Maristas High School in Spain. He returned to the United States with his family at the age of 21 settling into New Jersey where he began to work for New York Life Insurance Company in 1959 selling life and health insurance. His long and prolific career of 40 years at New York Life was distinguished by numerous achievements among which was making the list of the company's top 25 Health Agents (#19) in the entire United States for the year 1965. He was also named the number one New York Life Insurance Agent in the category of Health Policies for the entire Middle Atlantic Region in both 1974 and 1975. During this time Louis had also established a thriving Income Tax preparation business in Newark where he endeared himself to the Spanish and Portuguese community. Not one to be idle in retirement and out of loyalty to his clients he continued his income tax preparation business until this past spring. After retiring from New York Life Insurance Company Louis continued his illustrious career in sales with ITT selling real estate in the master planned community of Palm Coast until about 1995. He was again one of the top agents at ITT winning several awards for selling home lots. Louis was a loving husband a wonderful provider and a constant source of strength to his family. He was a constant companion to and always cherished his devoted wife Maria throughout their long and happy marriage. Louis always endeavored to provide his family with many of the things that he was not privileged to have growing up and he always impressed upon his sons the importance of an education. When he was not working Louis treasured spending time at the ocean with his family. Louis's love of the sea was instilled in him as a youth growing up in Vigo a beautiful seaside town in northwest Spain. He had a voracious appetite for all types of seafood and many of his happiest moments were spent partaking of seafood with his family and friends at several Spanish restaurants in Newark. After his family and work one of the great loves of his life was soccer. Louis cherished the opportunities to see his grandsons play and closely followed their achievements on the pitch.
One of the most joyful moments in his life occurred when the Spanish National Team finally won the World Cup in 2010. Throughout his life Louis acknowledged the guiding hand of God in all that he accomplished and greatly appreciated the many blessings that God had bestowed upon him over the course of his long life. He relocated with his wife Maria a few months ago from their home of 42 years in Short Hills New Jersey where he worshipped at St. Rose of Lima Church to the city of Palm Coast Florida. Here he was a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church until his passing. Condolences may be shared with the family online at www.Lohmanfuneralhomes.com . In lieu of flowers you may donate to St. Jude's Children Hospital at www.stjude.org

A Visitation will be held Friday September 28 2012 from 6:00pm until 8:00 pm at the Lohman Funeral Home Palm Coast and also Saturday September 29 2012 from 12 Noon until the Mass of Christian Burial at 1:00 pm at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. All arrangements are under the careful direction of Lohman Funeral Home Palm Coast 220 Palm Coast Pkwy SW Palm Coast.