Obituary of Maria Luisa Perez

Maria Luisa (Iglesias) Perez, passed away at the Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley, Thursday evening, July 9, 2015. The beloved wife of the late Juan Perez, who passed away this past April, she was 80 years old.(br)(br) Maria was born in La Salud, Cuba. She was one of seven children born to the late Vicente and Adelfa Iglesias. Maria and her husband Juan and daughter Alicia moved from Cuba to the United States in 1965. They lived in Arlington for over 35 years before moving to Burlington in 2006. Maria was a kindergarten teacher while living in Cuba. Maria was a very strong and caring woman, always the first to help others. After moving to the States she put herself through college attending Boston State College where she received her Master’s Degree in Education. She went on to teach Spanish in the Boston School System for 30 years working at Brighton High School, South Boston High School and Madison Park High School. She loved her role as teacher and educator. She made many friendships with both students and co-workers throughout the years. Maria and Juan had a wonderful life together. They travelled throughout the world visiting the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Europe and her favorite destination, Disney World in Florida. They also owned a home in Pembroke Pines, Florida so they could be close to both their families. Maria and Juan enjoyed going to social events and dances with their many friends at the Centro Cultural Cubano. Maria was very involved in her grandchildren’s lives. When they were young she would teach during the day and drive from Boston to Burlington to care for her three grandchildren while her daughter Alicia went to work as a Nurse. She was always attending their activities and never missed an important milestone in their lives. Maria spent the last 2 years of her life at the Life Care Center of Merrimack Valley in Billerica, where she was cared for by an extraordinary staff. Maria was the beloved wife of the late Juan Perez. Loving mother of Alicia Perez Brown and her husband Tim of Burlington. Proud &quote;Ata&quote; of Matthew, Christopher, and Kelly Brown of Burlington. Sister of Zoila Diaz & her husband Gilberto of FL, Mercedes Saber of FL, Adelfa Espino & her husband Otto of FL, and the late Vicente, Demetrio, & Dr. Francisco Iglesias. Also loved & survived by many nieces and nephews. Funeral from the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Tuesday, July 14th at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Monday 5-8 p.m. Interment in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge. Memorials in Maria’s name may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts Chapter, 36 Cameron Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140 Family Remembrance by Matt Hello Everyone, I want to thank you all for coming and being with us today. I'd also like to thank my mom and dad for just being who they are. Chris, Kelly, and I love you and hope to be half the people you two are. Maria, Luisa, or as Chris, Kelly, myself, (and many others knew her by), Ata, is remembered for many different things. She and Abu practically raised me for the first 3 years of my life (which is of course why I’m the favorite), and they were always in our lives. Chris, Kelly and I will always remember her cooking for us. We always said that she should open her own restaurant. I’ll always remember coming home from school, seeing Ata and thinking “Oh thank goodness, Ata is cooking and mom isn’t”. We’ll always remember going over Ata and Abu's for the weekend, and her spoiling us like crazy. Cooking for us, taking us to the park, taking us to buy a new toy, and always telling Abu to give us money. I’ll also remember her yelling at Abu whenever I hurt myself, even though he obviously had nothing to do with it. I know my Dad will miss her sense of fashion. Every Christmas, birthday, and father’s day he would get a new shirt or sweater from one of their shopping sprees to Kittery. Ata had the best sense of fashion from her clothes to her makeup. My mom said it skipped a generation -- turns out Kelly inherited Ata's good sense of fashion. My mom will just miss everything about Ata. Mom is an only child. I know she’ll miss having Ata there, talking with her, sharing her wisdom (and probably some of her craziness) . Even though Ata had Alzheimer’s, I know Ata knew and loved every moment we shared with her. Ata was a teacher for 30 years in the Boston school system. She taught Spanish to high school students, and would always come home and tell us the funniest stories. There was one that we especially remember, where she had to break up a fight between two girls, so she grabbed one of the girls by the hair. The next thing she knew, she had the girls hair extension in her hand, and she started screaming, thinking she had pulled a chunk of the girls hair out. The girl was yelling back at her, saying “give me back my hair, that’s really expensive hair!!”. We laughed so hard when we heard this story. Ata and Abu loved to dance, and they loved their parties. They both had great friends that they travelled with and went to many holiday parties with. Ata and Abu truly loved their friends and family, and shared many memories with them. Ata was the first one to take care of any family members when they were sick, or if they needed some place to stay or someone to talk to. My grandfather took great care of Ata. We’d also like to thank tia nita for being such a wonderful caretaker. My mom would always say she would not know what she would do without her. The same goes for Angelina and all of the other family members who came to visit and care for my grandmother. We’d also like to thank everyone at the Lifecare Center in Billerica. Everyone from the nurses, nurses aides, activities staff, the kitchen staff, housekeeping - everyone. I know my grandmother was comfortable there, and you all made sure of that. My family and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done (including finding her glasses about 100 times). I know Ata is with Abu in heaven right now, probably arguing about something. Someone is saying to them “hey! stop arguing!” and they’re saying back “We’re not arguing - this is just how we talk”. That’s how it was for 53 years, and will be forever.