Ann Jeannette Garcia went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on January 10, 2024 in Pearland, Texas at the age of 95. Ann also known as "Baby" to her Spanish speaking friends and relatives was born on March 7, 1928 in Tampa, Florida to her missionary parents Rev. Ishmael and Bessie Negrin. Ann was very young when she moved with her older brother Guin and parents from the USA to the town of Cruces, Cuba where her father was to pastor a Baptist Church.

In the difficult depression years of the 1930's the salaries for the pastors had to be reduced to a small amount. During these times the Negrin family was invited to come and visit the Garcia family. The Negrins came out to visit them often in the Cuban countryside where the Garcia's had plenty of food since they had an abundance of crops and some cattle as well so the Garcia's shared their resources with church members and others who were in need. It was there that Ann when only 3 years old met Carlos Garcia who was 4 years old and developed a relationship that would grow and in about 18 years later would result in marriage.

Ann's father's pastoral work would succeed over the years many people became Christians and several became pastors themselves and the work began to expand beyond the town of Cruces. The church eventually built their own successful school in Cruces where Ann and her brother Guin attended and received their primary education. From there Ann went to Colegios Internacionales del Cristo in Cuba to continue her education.

Eventually the Negrins would move from Cuba to start a new work in Key West, Florida. Both Ann and Carlos were in their late teens when Ann's mother Bessie invited Carlos to come to the United States to further his education at Wingate Collage in North Carolina which he

accepted and so in 1946 both Ann and Carlos attended Wingate together. Their relationship continued to grow and eventually they married in 1949.

Ann taught kindergarten for the Baptist organization from 1949 to 1956. Carlos became a Baptist minster and with Ann he started his first mission work in Gallup, New Mexico in 1951. In 1952 their son Charles Samuel Garcia was born.

In 1955 Carlos and Ann sold all their possessions and along with the financial help of other Christian friends set out on an evangelism campaign in Cuba which lasted till 1956. At first Ann was hesitant to give up all earthly possessions and follow Carlos' lead but in a very unusual way God gave her personal assurance that what Carlos was doing was the right thing to do, so she happily submitted to the plan. The evangelism tour turned out to be a success with the results of many souls finding what it really means to have Christ as their savior. In 1959 Fidel Castro came into power in Cuba and opportunities for evangelism and Christian work soon came to be closed off.

In 1958 the Garcia family moved to Abilene, Texas where Carlos accepted an invitation to take over the First Mexican Baptist Church there. In Abilene Ann and Carlos attended Hardin Simmons University where they each graduated with a bachelor's degree in Spanish. In Abilene the Garcia's made many wonderful long lasting friendships and Ann started her teaching career in public schools there as well.

After 6 years in Abilene Carlos felt that he had completed building up the Mexican Baptist Church there and he was moved to start a new work with the Mexican Baptists in the suburbs of Chicago so the family moved there in 1964. Ann started teaching Junior High there and soon

moved on to teaching at Elk Grove High School where she spent many productive years. While in Elk Grove High School Ann went to Mexico to help get 4 of Carlos' family members out of Cuba into the USA through Mexico. Soon after that Carlos' brothers in the USA where able to finish getting most of Carlos' family members into the USA from Cuba as well. Ann helped sending students to Latin America and receiving students from Latin America to study in Illinois. She also spent a couple summers and took some of her students to study and visit in Spain. In the late 1960's Carlos started teaching High School Spanish for several years and in 1991 Carlos and Ann moved back to Texas where they continued their teaching careers. Carlos retired from teaching in the mid 1990's but Ann would go on to keep teaching till her retirement in 2013 completing over 50 years of teaching.