Evenio Fernandez's charm and his wife's business sense were a winning match. "He was absolutely hysterical," his daughter says.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published October 15, 2004
WEST TAMPA - Evenio Fernandez had only a fourth-grade education, but he was a Tampa pioneer who played a role in shaping the city.
In the mid 1960s, Mr. Fernandez and his wife, Lidia, opened a small Latin grocery and flower shop on Columbus Drive, an area that soon became known for its Spanish and Cuban food.
Mr. Fernandez named the grocery La Teresita after his wife's patron saint, St. Theresa, said daughter Lisa Ahik.
"It was an immediate success because of my father's personality," she said. "My mother was the one with the business sense."
Mr. Fernandez worked in a number of occupations throughout his life. He was never a rich man, but he found success wherever he went.
He died Saturday (Oct. 9, 2004) from complications of a heart attack. He was 83.
Perhaps one reason he was so successful was that he had to work hard from an early age.
Mr. Fernandez was about 10 when he moved with his family to Ybor City from Cuba. His father became ill, and young Evenio had to work to help support his large family. He got up every day at 4 a.m. to work in a dairy and for a time delivered newspapers.
In his teens, he moved to New York City with his brothers. One night at a dance, he met a 15-year-old girl named Lidia Tapia. She was a Cuban immigrant who had moved to Tampa about the same time as the Fernandez family, then relocated to New York with her sister.
"It was just a coincidence," Ahik said. "They didn't know each other in Tampa."
Eleven months later, the teenage couple married, just before Mr. Fernandez enlisted in the U.S. Navy and went off to war. Their first daughter, Esmeralda, was born while he was fighting in the South Pacific.
After the war, the Fernandezes returned to Tampa. Mrs. Fernandez worked in a cigar factory, and Mr. Fernandez eventually went to work for NuAir, where he became general manager.
In the mid 1960s, with their older daughter grown and their younger daughter, Lisa, still at home, the couple opened La Teresita Grocery and Flower Shop in a shopping plaza that Mrs. Fernandez's brother owned.
They owned the businesses for about eight years, then sold to the family who opened the neighboring Capdevila at La Teresita restaurant. The grocery store remains today, but the flower shop has closed.
Mrs. Fernandez returned to work in the cigar factory, and Mr. Fernandez worked as a custodian for the Hillsborough County School System. Eventually he became head custodian at Gaither High School.
Mr. Fernandez was known for his charm and, even late in life, was always the life of the party.
"He was absolutely hysterical," Ahik said. "Everything was a joke with him."
Despite his truncated education, he learned to speak English without an accent and had a larger vocabulary than many college-educated people.
"He said that being well-spoken would get you in the door, but hard work is what made you a success," Ahik said.
Mr. Fernandez never lost his sense of humor and was still making jokes up until the time of his death. But he was never quite the same after his wife died 10 years ago.
"He never stopped talking about her," Ahik said. "He was madly, crazily in love with her."
Besides his two daughters, Mr. Fernandez is survived by three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
