So today at the wee hours of the morning I was searching for the death certificate of my great aunt, Luz Lilliame Correa Miranda. I knew that she only lived to be about 4-5 years old and lived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I started searching from July 1950 backwards and once I hit March I found her!!
On a trip to Puerto Rico last year, I found my great grandmother’s bible in my grandmother’s closet (it was her husband’s mother’s bible). Inside as either a page holder or tucked away for safety was Luz’ birth certificate; sadly when I pulled it out it ripped in half from how sensitive the paper was, luckily there is tape! On the certificate it stated that she was born on April 8th, 1945 in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico and that her parents were Manuel Correa (my elusive great grandfather) and Ernestina Miranda. I asked my grandmother what she knew about her and she told me that Luz only lived to be about 5, unfortunately dieing as a little girl. I was lucky enough to have pictures of her that had once belonged to my grandfather and so I decided to keep them since they were only sitting inside a closet in Puerto Rico.
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| Luz Lilliame Correa Miranda, circa late 1940s |
Finding Luz’ death certificate helped me solidify more that Manuel Correa is the man I think he is and what I know about him. On her death certificate he is stated to be ‘Manuel Correa Rivera‘ (Just like on his Social Security Application and what my grandfather told me). Interestingly, Luz is buried in the Isla Verde cemetery (it says Mapal. Isla Verde, but I wonder if “Mapal.” is short for Municipal, maybe I’ll be able to visit!)
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| Luz and Carlos (her brother/my grandfather) |
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| Manuel and his children Carlos and Luz |