Rosa Delia Malave

Rosa D. Malave, age 59, of Altamonte Springs, Florida, passed away on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024, at the AdventHealth Orlando Hospital.

Rosa was born in New Haven, Connecticut on January 21st, 1965. The family moved to Florida in 1979. She graduated from Apopka High School and worked for Drew Medical, now known as SimonMed, for many years.

At a very young age she taught herself how to ride a bike and would race all the boys in elementary school and not one could beat her. When she got to middle school, she enrolled herself in all the school activities such as ballet, tap, jazz dancing, gymnastics and the choir. In high school she joined the girls' softball team. She used to ride her 10-speed bike for miles and jog as if the road was unending. Even after having two kids, she would join the gym to maintain her weight and health. She still loved doing all those things, plus singing and dancing until, after extensive blood work and research, she was finally diagnosed with Scleroderma, which is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Her whole body and organs were affected especially her lungs. She was kept alive with oxygen tanks until finally her lungs gave up on her.

She battled with that disease for about 18 years. She was a strong minded, loving, caring person that loved sharing her hope of a new better world under God's Kingdom where sickness and death will be no more (Rev. 21:3,4). This is the motor that helped her to keep on fighting till the end. As a devoted Jehovah's Witness, she shared the good news of this kingdom with all the nurses and medical staff that would take care of her. They loved her good, sweet attitude and mild disposition, though being so sick, as she shared with them what was the most important message to her which made her faith so strong.

She will be greatly missed by her two loving children, Dennis Oseas Martinez and Mariah Princess Martinez, both of Altamonte Springs.

Besides her two children she is survived by her father, Julio Malave, her brothers, Julio "Papo" Malave, Josué Malave, Joel Malave and Jesé Malave. Two sisters, Wanda Malave and Maria Rodriguez, her aunt and uncle Maria Elena and Geronimo Veguilla, her uncle and wife Luis and Idalmis Malave and many nieces and nephews.