Grace De La Torre, whose flower business Garden in a Pot was on Main Street in Miami Lakes for more than a decade, died on March 15.
The cause was metastatic lung cancer, her daughter Jessica De La Torre said.
Grace De La Torre was 62. Born in Cuba, she lived in Miami Lakes for 32 years before moving to Pembroke Pines.
“They told us she was treatable but not curable,” De La Torre, 31, of Miami Shores said of the diagnosis that came in September 2021. “She fought as much as she could, but it spread so fast. It was unfortunate that there was nothing else they could do.”
A funeral Mass will be held Monday, April 3 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, 15801 NW 67th Ave. in Miami Lakes. The internment of ashes follows at 11:30 a.m. at Vista Memorial Gardens, 14200 NW 57th Ave. Both services are open to the public, De La Torre said.
During her final months, De La Torre was able to get to know her baby grandson London.
Her shop, which opened in 2009, was a destination for kids in town, whether to get Halloween candy or a little toy bear or flower. It closed in 2022.
When Jessica was a picky eater in elementary school, her mother would bring her McDonald’s Happy Meals. Asked to stop delivering the food because it wasn’t fair to the other students, “she decided to bring my entire grade Happy Meals every single day for the rest of the school year,” De La Torre said. “Her priority was to make sure every child felt equal, loved, and appreciated.”
For spirit week, the kids dressed in tribute to Grace by wearing a Lacoste polo shirt, black leggings and bras stuffed with tissues and a cell phone, De La Torre recalled.
De La Torre’s floral creations were displayed at the Telemundo TV station and Miami Lakes Hotel on Main for many years, her daughter said. Her creativity can be seen on her Instagram page.
De La Torre called her mother “an extraordinary woman with a heart of gold. Not only was she authentic, but she radiated an energy like no other. Her presence would cause everyone to smile and laugh as soon as she walked into a room, whether they knew her or not.”
Clients became like family over time, De La Torre said, and “are a testimony to her charisma and selfless, loving nature. She provided a spark of energy and love to everyone she came in contact with.”
In addition to her daughter, grandson and son-in-law Kris Rodriguez, De La Torre is survived by son Rudy De La Torre, 36, of Miami Lakes.
De La Torre wished that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her honor to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, at https://bit.ly/3FZIXZC.