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Obituary

A passion for food stores, people

Ralph Amor loved to scan the displays in supermarkets. Even when he was on vacation he'd pop into stores to check them out.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published September 8, 2006

RIVERSIDE HEIGHTS - Ralph Amor didn't have the kind of career that most people would consider glamorous. But he had such a passion for his work, and for people, that he couldn't bring himself to leave the business, even after he was suffering from heart disease.

Mr. Amor spent most of his working life as a food salesman for Armour and Co. and later for TriVenture Food Brokers. He died Aug. 30 of congestive heart failure. He was 79.

He didn't have a lot of hobbies but loved to window shop at the deli counters of local supermarkets.

"He loved grocery stores," said his wife, Rosemary. "Even when we were on vacations, he'd want to go to the grocery stores and see how they had everything displayed."

Mr. Amor was so well-liked at local food stores that he seldom left empty-handed. Store officials would often give him armfuls of food to take home to his family.

Mr. Amor was born in Cuba to Spanish immigrants. Rafael and Rosario Amor had to stay in Cuba for business reasons, but they wanted their son to be an American. He was just a young boy when they sent him to a boarding school in Pasco County.

After a short time there, he came to live with an aunt in West Tampa, who raised him until he graduated from Jefferson High School and joined the Merchant Marine during World War II.

His wife-to-be also lived in the neighborhood.

"He had a motorcycle, and every time you heard that motorcycle go down the street, it was, 'There goes Ralph,' " she said.

It wasn't until the early 1950s, when Mr. Amor returned home after a post-war stint in the Navy, that he really took notice of his future wife. She was not immediately impressed.

"It took him a long time to win me over," she said. "He didn't do all the things I thought he should do, like open the door for me."

But he persisted, and they married in 1955. They lived with her parents, then built a home in Richardson's Village near Riverside Heights, where they lived for more than 40 years.

His life revolved around his work, home and family.

"I remember him working long hours, but still finding time for my Little League games," said his son, Jack Amor. "He even raked the field before the games, and he ran the concession stand."

In his spare time, and when he wasn't visiting local supermarkets, Mr. Amor loved working in his yard. His close friend, Bern Laxer, the late founder of Bern's Steak House, would often use clippings from Mr. Amor's yard for mulch on the farm that supplied the restaurant's organic vegetables.

Mr. Amor retired in the 1990s but missed working and took a job bagging groceries at Publix. He didn't need the money, but he loved to work.

"He liked to be around people," his wife said. "And that job was his way of spending more time in the grocery store."

He went back to work for TriVenture part time, even after heart problems slowed him down. About three years ago, his health became so bad that he had to stop working altogether.

"The last few years were not good," his wife said. "He had to have everything done for him, and he didn't like that at all. He's at peace now."

Besides his wife and son, Mr. Amor is survived by his daughter, Rosalind Daigneault, and four grandchildren.

[Last modified September 7, 2006, 11:24:40]