Friday, October 5, 2012

My Mother's Obituary









Maria Rita Orta de Fernandez

On Saturday September 22, 2012 at 10:30 in the morning Maria Rita Orta de Fernandez, RN went to our Lord. She was under the care of Vitas Hospice at Metropolitan Hospital in Miami for a week. She passed away quietly from natural causes.  She was born in Cuba on May 22, 1913 making her 99 years old at the time of her passing. She was the daughter of Jose M. Orta and Abundia Rodriguez, from Rancho Boyeros, Cuba. She is survived by her two sons Angel Vicente Fernandez, Jr., his wife Grace (Spitale) and Jose Manuel Fernandez, her stepdaughter Marina Fernandez had pre-deceased her in 2002. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Vicente O. Fernandez and his daughter Monica Fernandez. Star Bradley and her husband Eric and daughter Zoe Marina,  Ariana R. Fernandez and her daughter Chloe Marina. Frank L. Fernandez, his wife Diry (Cantero) and their daughters EllaMia and Maya. And also her beloved niece Doris Millares from Mississippi, and her extended Family.

Rita was a graduate of the University Of Havana School Of Nursing in 1948. She was married to Angel V. Fernandez (Angelito) a Parliamentary Stenographer/Court Reporter until his death in 1981.  She loved the Ocean along with her husband they loved living in Jaimanitas, Cuba next to the beach.  Among her family it was often said that she was the first woman in Cuba to wear two piece bathing suits, which she made herself. In her younger days she was renowned for her beauty and grace.

Rita and Angelito emigrated together with their children from Cuba to the US in October of 1960. In the US they lived in New York City for a year and then settled in Miami. While in New York she worked as a nurse for the Bronx Hospital and got her certification as a Registered Nurse. Back in Miami she worked at North Shore Hospital and later as a commercial Nurse for Suave Shoe Corporation.
In her widowed years she enjoyed traveling with her family and gardening in her back yard. She was an independent woman till the end. Never sick a day in her life she faced life with quiet stoic demeanor, counseling all who knew her that the most important lesson in life is “understanding” one another and the situations that confront us.  And to always apply her own version of the “golden rule” she said, if someone offends you do not offend them in return because you then become like them, always know who you are and respect yourself.

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