Juanita (Jenni) Otero DiMaria

Juanita Otero DiMaria, Jenni to all who knew her, embarked on her next adventure under the brilliant, diamond-white Flower Moon late on the night of 23 May 2024, a month shy of turning 90. A global citizen, she last resided in Lake County, Florida, where she was tenderly cared for by her devoted niece, Celia Ratta. Born on the mountaintop in Aibonito, Puerto Rico on 23 June 1934, Jenni made it by grindingly hard work to the high rises of the upper east side of Manhattan before enjoying her retirement in Oklahoma City and West Palm Beach. The ninth, youngest, and last surviving child of Juan Antonio Otero and Isolina Montañez y Figueroa, Jenni endured the ravages of the Great Depression and WWII on the family’s finca before arriving in the Bronx during the Great Blizzard of 1947. She taught herself English by reading comic books and was for the rest of her life a sparkling bilingual conversationalist. She graduated from the school of hard knocks, overcoming generational family trauma and her own physical and mental health challenges, to become a pioneer yellow cab driver in New York City in the 1970s and one of the first female taxicab medallion owner-operators in NYC into the mid-1990s. She wasn’t yellow, she went everywhere! Predeceased by her siblings Pasquale Madera, Rufino Montañez, Jovita Marrero, Carmen Rosario, Francisca Quiñones, Maria Antonia Tompkins, Juan Antonio Montañez, and Bernarda Otero Montañez, Jenni is survived by her three children of whom she was quietly proud: Jerry Otero Davis who honored her by taking her name, Robyn Davis McNichol and husband William McNichol, and Judd and wife Kyra Davis; her grandchildren, Joshua Davis, Angus McMillin, Leia Davis, and Nicholas Davis; and many beloved nieces and nephews scattered across the country. Jenni was their favorite “Titi” and their surest and most dependable truth-teller. Her extended family counted on her to be the compassionate, understanding, and totally cool advisor they often didn’t know they needed but were so grateful to have. Jenni was a spitfire, filled with moxie and resolve and fueled by a deep sense of justice; for 40 years she practiced Buddhism and tried daily to live its tenets. She was also an effervescent, ebullient woman who always saw the humor in things and brought peals of laughter everywhere she went. She loved music and sparkly clothes and stylish hats and eating other people’s cooking. She will be grievously missed by those left behind and joyfully welcomed by those she follows. To honor her memory, have a good laugh, eat some shrimp, and enjoy a cold beer, preferably bottled. She will be returned to the mountaintop in Aibonito, Puerto Rico on the 91st anniversary of her birth, 23 June 2025, and all are welcome to attend the services. Arrangements entrusted to Beyers Funeral Home of Leesburg, Florida.

Juanita (Jenni) Otero DiMaria

June 23, 1934 - May 23, 2024