Maria del Pilar Fernandez's Obituary
Dr. Maria del Pilar Martinez Fernandez, 89, went to her eternal resting place with the Lord on December 2, 2022 in Tampa, Fla. She was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on May 11,1933 to the late Nilo Martinez and Candida Mauricio Martinez. For 52 years she was the loving wife of Luis Enrique Fernandez, MD who passed in July of 2010. Pilar is survived by her son Luis Fernandez (Tammy), daughter Dr. Maria Fernandez Chahine (Paul), grandchildren Nick Fernandez (Rachael), Amber Fernandez Smith (Brandon), JP Chahine, M. Caterina Chahine, great grandson Jackson Smith, her dear sister Maria B. Fleites, and numerous nephews, nieces, and cousins.
In 1966, Pilar and Luis made the difficult decision to leave everything behind in Communist Cuba and move to Spain from which they came to Tampa in 1967 with their two children and her parents. It was Pilar’s unwavering Catholic faith that supported her as she worked tirelessly to raise her family in a culture which sometimes challenged her traditions and morals. She met every challenge with dignity, hard work and prayer. Pilar was eternally grateful for the privilege and blessing of enjoying the freedoms afforded by her adopted country- the great USA. Together she and Luis taught by their example the values of faith, education, freedom of speech and the freedom to work and enjoy the fruits of their labor. She was a very joyful person who embraced the many occasions to celebrate whether it be dressing up for Halloween or preparing her infamous “rollo de salmon” for Noche Buena. Pilar earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Havana in 1954. In 1974-1975 she joined a group of foreign pharmacy graduates who requested that the Florida university system provide an intensive study course that would allow them to obtain their Doctor of Pharmacy in Florida. They succeeded and in 1977 Pilar earned her second Doctor of Pharmacy degree. In Cuba Pilar taught high school Physics and Chemistry at the Instituto de Pinar del Rio and in Tampa she was the “jack of all trades” at her husband Luis’ Internal Medicine practice. Her contagious personality, attention to detail and honesty led to her becoming friends with those she met through work and her beloved parish community at St. Lawrence Catholic Church. Pilar and Luis were Cursillistas and embraced their faith by participating in religious educational opportunities both at home and abroad. In retirement they enjoyed traveling and many of those travels were for religious pilgrimages including their favorite trips to the Holy Land, the Vatican and the Camino de Santiago.
In more recent years, Pilar’s struggles with dementia and limited mobility forced our “energizer bunny” to slow down and be simply present to all who loved and cared for her. We are very grateful to several caregivers involved in Pilar’s care but especially to Yolanda and Nolvia who have been devoted to her care for the last 2-3 years. We are also grateful to Dr. Martin Solorzano and Dr. Charles Cox for their excellent care.
Services will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church on Saturday December 17 with entombment to follow at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Clearwater. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Boza-Roel and the service details are available below on this website. In lieu of flowers please consider contributing in Pilar’s name to St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Tampa, EWTN in Alabama or a charity of your choice.
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