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His Passion Was Driving

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By JOSE PATINO GIRONA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2008

TAMPA - Jorge Luis Fundora's dream of being a truck driver started early in his native Havana.

While other children played baseball, Fundora pretended to drive using a plastic steering wheel stuck in the sand.

"It was his passion," said Rosny Garcia, 29, of Tampa, who Fundora raised as a son from childhood.

For 11 years, Fundora was a truck driver for Soil Tech Distributors of Tampa, hauling concrete debris and roofing shingles.

The 51-year-old grandfather, was working Wednesday morning when he was killed in a pileup on Interstate 4 that left four dead, 38 injured and 70 vehicles damaged.

Garcia's brother, Rudy, 33, who was driving another truck for Soil Tech, received minor injuries in the wreck. Family members said Rudy Garcia, also raised by Fundora since childhood, was too distraught to talk.

The Polk County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified Fundora and the three other victims: Joseph J. Noel, 57, of Lakeland; Scott Snyder, 35, of Auburndale; and Michael Fricke Jr., 34, of Clair Mel City.

The four men all had burn injuries, but the cause of death has not been determined, the examiner's office said.

Noel, a husband and father, was a chef at the Solaris Restaurant at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

"He was a great guy," said co-worker John Espelage, who declined to comment further.

Reached by telephone at the Noel home, one of his daughters said the family needed privacy.

Snyder and Fricke were identified earlier by relatives.

Florida Highway Patrol officials said the wreck, which closed a 14-mile stretch of the interstate for about three days and has been blamed in part on fog and smoke, remains under investigation.

Fundora's family said he was a dedicated worker who would leave his West Tampa home at 4 a.m. and arrive back at 5 p.m. His truck driving route was Tampa to Orlando.

Jack Montero, vice president of Soil Tech, declined to comment. Fundora's family said the company has been supportive.

In Cuba, Fundora also drove trucks. When he had a shipment of food, he would distribute some of it in a poor neighborhood and tell his employer that part of the shipment accidentally had fallen from the truck, his niece Arelys Sardina said.

"He was like a missionary of God on Earth," Sardina said.

Fundora left Cuba in 1994 on a raft that was intercepted by the U.S Coast Guard. He spent six months at Guantanamo Bay and arrived in Miami that same year.

He moved to Tampa in 1995.

When he left the island nation, he did so without his family, promising his wife and children that he would reunite with them.

In 2000, his wife of 25 years, Josefina Miranda, 50, arrived in the United States. His three sons, including the Garcia brothers, came in subsequent years. His daughter remains in Cuba.

Fundora's family said he wouldn't hesitate to help a relative or neighbor in need. He would paint a home, change a car's oil or install an entertainment center. He couldn't sit idle, they said.

Last year, Fundora pulled to the side of I-4 to help accident victims get out of their car, Rosny Garcia said.

"My father was very honest and disinterested" in personal gain, Garcia said in Spanish.

Tribune reporter Lindsay Peterson contributed to this report. Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

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