Cecilia Alicea

Cecilia was born to Juana and Esteban Carassco on November 22, 1941 on the
island of Puerto Rico. Although the Carrascos eventually had 4 children,
Cecilia grew up an only child as a result of her siblings' unfortunate deaths due to various childhood illnesses. At the age of 8, she emigrated to New York where she studied and became fluent in both English and Spanish, eventually graduating from the prestigious Central Commercial HS in NYC in 1959. After meeting and marrying Humberto Alicea in 1964, she would become the mother of three girls: Evelyn Alicea Santiago, Yvonne Alicea Welliver and Yasmin Alicea Davila. Her marriage would not endure the test of time but Cecilia struggled and succeeded as a single mother to raise her daughters to be educated and successful �one of her greatest personal accomplishments. Throughout her life she would work for New York State, first at the Dept. of Commerce, later moving to the Racing Commission and ending her career at the Unified Court System. During her time at the Unified Court System, Cecilia �s persistence and hard work were evident to all, especially her family. She was promoted twice within a 5-year period after taking promotional examinations. She ended her career in the position of Court Clerk after becoming an interpreter-another accomplishment that gave her personal pride. However, that still did not compare to her ultimate achievement of obtaining her Bachelor of Science Degree from City College of New York in 2001 at the age of 60. Cecilia always persevered and embraced education above all. She promoted that ideal to her daughters and lived it. She is survived by 7 grandchildren and was able to hold her first great-granddaughter Jaylin before her passing.