Minor Family
by Maritza Minor Llopis & Steven Alan Minor
Maritza and Steven have lived in Key Biscayne since 1981 in the same condominium at Ocean Drive Manors. They moved into their condo from Coral Gables a few months after their wedding. Steven moved to the area from San Francisco, but Maritza was a long-time resident of Miami, attending high school at Miami High. Steven is a fifth-generation Californian, and Maritza is Nicaraguan with a Panamanian father and Nicaraguan mother. Maritza’s father was Chinese, Spanish, and Hawaiian. Maritza’s mother was of Spanish descent.
Steven and Maritza met in Miami on a blind date, introduced by mutual friends. At that time Steven’s business was in San Francisco, and Maritza was a flight attendant for Pan Am Airlines. They had a coast-to-coast relationship for a few months until Steven decided to move to Miami. Their wedding took place on the Show Queen, a large 3-level party boat, with 100 guests from all over the USA and Latin America. They spent their honeymoon in the Fiji Islands.
After high school, Maritza was granted a scholarship to go to Sienna, Italy, where she became fluent in Italian which qualified her to work international flights on Pan Am Airlines. Maritza resigned from Pan Am after their son, Steven Anthony Minor, was born. Steven (son) grew up in Key Biscayne and attended KB Elementary, Coral Gables High, and FIU where he graduated with a hospitality degree. During his 25-year work history, he has worked for the KB Ritz Carlton, the Four Seasons Brickell and Chicago, the Mandarin Hotel, and most recently he has risen to Corporate Beverage Manager for the 1Hotel Group. Steven is married to Carolina Pitrelli from Argentina, and they are the proud parents of Scarlett, 10, and Harrison, 5.
While raising Steven, Maritza worked for the Islander News as Assistant to the Editor and then became the official photographer where she had her own photo page called “Beachcombing by Maritza.” Then she was involved for 15 years with Fundación Manos del Sur “Pan y Amor,” raising money for a school in Nicaragua. She has also been active with Relay for Life and the Fourth of July Parade. Presently Maritza takes local interest photos for the Key Biscayne Magazine. She joined the KB Women’s Club in 2023. For many years her passion has been Ikebana Japanese flower arranging. She established her company, Living Art, several years ago, and she has many private clients on Key Biscayne. Maritza loves to work out at the KB Community Center, taking dance, yoga, and exercise classes each week.
Steven was president of Olympus Hot Tubs when he met Maritza. The largest wooden tub distributor in the US, Olympus imported mahogany tubs from the Philippines and distributed them throughout the US from a large warehouse on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. When he moved to Key Biscayne, Steven took over the East Coast sales. Several years later, he became the purchasing agent for a Panamanian company that had a contract to manage all the properties occupied by the US military bases in Panama.
In 2003, Steven got his real estate license to be able to practice Business Brokerage. Three years later he got his broker’s license. He specialized in the sale of large, vacant land properties working in several counties in the southern part of the state. Additionally, Steven has sold many condominiums on Key Biscayne. He is still active in Business Brokerage and Real Estate. In addition to real estate, Steven is the owner of an Aire Master of America franchise in Broward and a partner in the Palm Beach county franchise. Aire Master provides commercial Scentscape and deodorizer services to a wide variety of customers. Presently he and his partners have four Aire Master franchises with over 700 active accounts including hospitals, apartment communities, restaurants, office buildings, and Catholic Housing communities. Their franchise territories include all of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.
Throughout Steven’s business career in Florida, he has practiced martial arts, including Shotokan Karate, Tai-Chi, Lian Gong, and Qigong. Steven and Marius Robinson taught Lian Gong and Qigong on KB for almost 18 years on the Village Green and in the Community Center (when it was raining). Steven’s other passions are fly fishing and reading history, Zen, and other oriental philosophies.
