Marta Gaston Aguilera

Marta Gaston Aguilera, (97), passed away peacefully on January 24, 2018. Marta was a trailblazer as a working woman. A secretary for her lawyer-father in the 1940's and 50's in Cuba, then in the US in the mid - 1960's after fleeing communist Cuba. Marta had the foresight to insist on leaving Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power. She worked for Semmes and Semmes Patent Attorneys and then at the Inter-American Development Bank for many years until retiring in 1988. She relished her job at the bank and cherished the many friendships she developed there with her co-workers. Marta Teresa Gaston was born October 15, 1920 in Holguin, Oriente Province, Cuba. Her family was from a picturesque beach town, Gibara, near the provincial capital, Holguin. She married her husband, Roberto Aguilera, on her birthday in 1949. She met her husband at a Sugar Mill in San German, near Holguin, while working for her father. Mr. Aguilera was an accountant at the Sugar Mill. Marta's father, Rafael Gaston, did legal work for the Sugar Mill and Marta paid many visits to the Mill to deliver legal documents. Their idyllic life in Cuba ended with the communist takeover. Settling in Northern Virginia was a fortunate occurrence. Marta interviewed for a secretarial job from two patent attorneys that had contacted the Refugee Service looking to hire a bilingual secretary that knew shorthand. Luckily, Marta's father had sent her to Chicago in the 1940's to study English and Gregg Shorthand. While longing to return to Cuba, her family eventually adapted and flourished in Virginia. Marta retired to Miami Beach in 1988 and lived there for many years with her beloved three sisters in adjacent condos on the beach. She returned to Virginia in 2012 to be closer to her family. Marta is survived by her sons, Robert of Tallahassee, FL, Rafael and his wife Amanda of Alexandria, VA, step-daughter Odina Lackinger, granddaughters Andrea and Charlotte, and grandson Robert. Her sisters Amalia, Berta, Lili, brother Rafael and beloved husband Roberto, preceded her in death along with her revered mother and father, Amalia and Rafael Gaston. Visitation will be held at Murphy Funeral Home, 4510 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA, 22203, On Wednesday, January 31, 2018, from 6 - 8 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held February 1, at the Cathedral of St. Thomas Moore, 3901 Cathedral Lane, Arlington, VA 22203, at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow at Columbia Gardens Cemetery.