Ana A. Figueras

Ana Figueras was born in Puerto Rico on
September 11th 1936 to her parents Jose and Isabel.
The family consisted of her father, stepmother Juana,
her abuelita Carmen and ten children, eight girls and
two boys. Ana was the second eldest of the ten. She
came to the USA in 1944 and lived in the Bronx until
she moved to Long Island in 2010. She is the mother
of three daughters, and has been blessed with eight
grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Ana
worked for and retired from the Council on Foreign
Relations after thirty–one years. She was Assistant
Comptroller and Assistant Treasurer.

Ana was a dancer, an amazing salsa dancer.
She danced at places like the Tropicana, the
Palladium. Tito Puentes himself performed a
drumroll when she walked into the room. She could
proudly drink a grown man under the table. She
loved to play cards and bingo and celebrate anything
and everything with family and friends, especially if
she had the opportunity to cook. She loved to cook!
And most of all she loved her family.

Ana was a faithful Christian and served in the
Catholic Church for the majority of her life. She
made all her sacraments at St. Anselm‘s church in the
Bronx and became a certified Catechist at sixteen
years old. She was among the first group of youth
that received adolescent certification from the
Archdiocese of New York. One of her treasured
achievements was when she received the Medal of
Honor from the Archdiocese for teaching catechism
for forty years. She was a Catechist in St. Anselm’s,
Our Lady of Grace and St. Ursula for adolescents and
adults.

In 1975 Ana moved to Our Lady of Grace
Church and became a member of both the church and
school. Through the years, Ana served in many
capacities in both the school (while her children were
in attendance) and the church. She served as
President of the Mothers Guild, Chairperson of the
Parish Council and Coordinator of Religious
Education. She was a Rector at the Cursillo Center
for two years and participated in a four–day retreat
that was given for renewing of our faith. She worked
in the Rectory preparing the weekly bulletin in
Spanish and English. She was also one of the
Trustees for our Parish and a member of the Seniors
Group.

Ana truly loved the Lord and this was reflected
in her willingness to open her home to any and
everyone who needed a bed to rest or a meal. She
consistently fed the members of the church, her
friends and family with her arroz, pernil and other
Puerto Rican dishes. No occasion is too big or small
for her to prepare her amazing food. She did not care
who a person was or where they came from. If a
person was in need of help and she knew about the
need, she would move heaven and earth to ensure
they received the help needed.

Ana continued to be a very happy God–fearing
woman who woke up praising the Lord for the gift of
each day. She was a happy person; the life of the
party; always loving a good party or reason to
celebrate. She spent the remainder of her life giving
her all to any project she was working on at the
moment. Ana was a proud independent woman; a
proud Puerto Rican, a proud mother, a super proud
grandmother and great grandmother, an incredibly
proud Figueras sister, a proud aunt, and a proud
friend. Ana faithfully believed God was good to her
and lived her life as a reflection of His goodness.