Photo of Ernesto G. de la Fé (20583 bytes)

ERNESTO G. DE LA FÉ
July 10, 1916 - November 15, 1997

HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER,
EXEMPLARY FAMILY MAN,
PROPER GENTLEMAN,
CARDENENSE

May he rest in peace.

Esta pagina en Espanol

Eulogies of Ernesto G. de la Fé
Delivered by daughter, Elena De Zayas, and son, Ernesto J. de la Fé,
at St. John the Apostle Church, Hialeah, Florida, November 17, 1997.

Elena M. De Zayas:

Death is very difficult to accept: so final and definite. We would all like to think, not that daddy has died, but instead, that he has been born in heaven. What peace and tranquility one feels if he truly accepts that we have our "Guardian Angel" in Heaven who will guide us on Earth. In this way he will continue living in the hearts of a wife, 7 children and 17 grandchildren.

All those who were lucky enough to have known my dad know how simple and gentlemanly he always was. He devoted his life to his wife, children and grandchildren. -- Daddy, we will always appreciate this and never forget you.

And we will never, ever be afraid to die because we know that you will be waiting for us in Heaven.


Ernesto J. de la Fé:

I want to begin by expressing our thanks to all the family members and friends that are accompanying us during this sad moment of our family life, as well as all those who were with us at the funeral home last night.

The death of my father, Ernestico de la Fé, of Cárdenas -- proper gentleman, exemplary family man -- is very painful for this family and it will hurt us forever; but we are comforted by having been a part of that life, by the knowledge that he did not have to suffer a painful death, and by the fact that we were all able to be by his side during his final days and moments on this earth.

My father was not a great politician, nor a statesman, public figure, wealthy man, a thinker or scientist. He never held a high level position or royal title. But in spite of not being or having any of those things, in reality he was and had all of them, because my father was the greatest thing a man can aspire to be, and that is simply: A GOOD MAN. Today, Heaven is a better place because of my father's presence there.

Ernestico de la Fé's legacy on this earth is his family, which he reared under difficult circumstances, alongside a woman that is as good as he was. I remember once having seen a comment about my dad in the 1957 yearbook of the Cárdenas School of Commerce, saying: "... lately, he has taken on the task of populating the world". And, so it is! Dad knew how to spread his good seed. And his 7 sons and daughters have known how to follow Mom and Dad's example, uniting with good partners -- all of them -- and together they have continued in the difficult task of helping to populate this world with good human beings, (currently with 17 between them). Seen in this light then, today the Earth too is a better place for having had my father's presence on it.

I will always treasure in my heart the last year-and-a-half that I was able to share with Dad, before he got sick, during which he was helping me to construct the Cárdenas website on the Internet. I know he enjoyed it tremendously. It gave us the opportunity to share his good memories, and to bond in our objective of letting the world know the reality of the tragedy that the people of Cuba, in general, and the people of Cárdenas, in particular, have had to endure during the last 38 years.

Finally, we thank the Lord for not only having given us such a good husband, father and grandfather, but also for the time that we were given to get used to the idea that he was not going to be with us forever. If he had left us back in April, without recovering from his heart operation, this would have been much more difficult for us. Together, we witnessed the mercy with which the Lord took him, and we thank God for having given us the opportunity to take care of him during his final illness. And now, the only thing that remains for us is to try to follow his example and to deserve the honor of being his legacy.


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