Socorro Lumbert

Socorro Milagros Vicenty Sanchez Lumbert, 86, died peacefully in her home in Rockledge, FL, surrounded by her family.

Born on May 5, 1939, in Aguada, Puerto Rico, she was named for Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and never did anyone live up to their name so well. In Puerto Rico, she worked as a social worker in addition to being a nursing assistant to her brother, the doctor. She was fearless, walking into homes to defuse domestic situations even when the police refused to enter, and navigating some of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Ceiba armed with only a steel nail file.

In December of 1965, she fell in love with a Navy man, Steven Lee Lumbert. They married on June 24, 1966, and moved to Colorado.

In Pueblo, Colorado, she was mother to two daughters, (Karina Lynn Gay Fabian and Regina Francisca Koske) and helped raise her nephew, Duane Perrine. She also welcomed her daughters’ friends with open arms and made them feel they were family. Many of them still call her “Mom.”

She was a substitute teacher for Spanish, and kids said they learned more from her on her substitute days than from weeks with their regular teachers. She returned to social work with the developmentally disabled, retiring after 20 years to be a full-time grandma and volunteer at the church with her husband, the Deacon. She was his right hand in everything from leading marriage preparation classes to shoveling snow off the church sidewalks. Her beautiful voice graced the Spanish choirs. She also had the ability to make friends at first meeting and charmed people with her smile and infectious laugh.

A notorious shopper and bargain hunter, she was always buying with someone else in mind: the church, the poor, the “little girls down the street.” She supplied many churches with holiday decorations, gave many in need bountiful Christmases, and gifted innumerable children with her generosity.

Socorro is survived by her husband of 60 years, Steven; her daughters, Karina and Gina; her grandchildren, Steven, Allen, Alex, and Liam, her siblings, Judith Mitzy, Josepha, Gloria, and Guillermo. She is preceded in death by her parents, Guillermo and Georgina, and siblings Wassilly, Kennedy, Aida, Carmen, and Eugenio.

The memorial service will be held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Community in Viera, Florida, on Thursday, April 30, 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Joni and Friends. https://joniandfriends.org.

Services will be livestreamed at https://stjohnviera.org.