Olga Talleda Rust

Olga Cesara Lenor Talleda Villanueva Rust, age 100, passed on August 13, 2023 in her home at Clairmont Place in Decatur, Georgia under the loving attention of her caregivers. Olga’s first grandchild, Abby, called her “Tata” for reasons unknown and it stuck. Olga thenceforth became known to all of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and even her son and daughter as Tata.

Olga was born on July 23, 1923 in Santa Domingo, Cuba to Joaquin Feliciano Talleda Lugones and Carmen Villanueva Roche. Her mother died when she was young and she was raised by her beloved father and two older brothers, Miguel and Oscar. Olga came to the United States in 1946 to attend George Peabody College for Teachers, now part of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, with the goal of obtaining her degree and returning to Cuba to teach English. Love and a handsome fellow student, Jerry H. Rust, interrupted those plans and she was married on the day of her graduation in 1949. Olga visited her home island frequently with Jerry and his parents until the death of her father. After the Cuban revolution, she never returned and her brothers made their way to the United States. Although she was a proud citizen of the United States, Olga’s thoughts were frequently of Cuba and she always welcomed the opportunity to speak in her native language. Late in life, she began to dream in Spanish again.

Olga and Jerry were educators, working in Louisiana, Georgia and finally settling in Nashville. After her divorce from Jerry, Olga started working at the Tennessee School for the Blind where she stayed until her retirement. She adored those children and communicated with many of her former students and colleagues for the rest of her life. As her daughter, Pamela Carmen, and son, Michael, grew and married and had their own children she became Tata and welcomed every opportunity to babysit for her grandchildren. Those opportunities were frequent and, after she retired and moved to Atlanta, Olga’s family was her life.

Reading was Olga’s favorite activity and she was so thankful that she kept her eyesight to the end, allowing her to devour books. She constantly asked for “a good new book to read.” She instilled that love for reading in both her children. A women of strong faith, Olga read and re-read her Spanish bible frequently. After moving to Clairmont Place, Olga began writing wonderful colorful short stories about her childhood in Cuba.

Olga is survived by her children, Pamela Neal of Bristol, Tennessee and Michael Rust (Lora) of Atlanta, her grandchildren, Abigail Dickert (George) of Greenville, South Carolina, LCDR Russell Neal (Rachel) of Beaufort, South Carolina, Allie Flowers (T.C.) of Boston, Massachusetts, and Hunter Rust of New Orleans, Louisiana, and her great grandchildren, Mason Dickert, Elliot Flowers, Reed Neal and Riley Neal. The family is so thankful for the loving women who cared for Olga in her last months, Angie Reid, Mimi Hall, Demi Reid, Mary Walker and Ashley Lee.

The family will have a private celebration of Olga’s life. Please consider donating to an organization that supports the visually impaired such as the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia. Or, go to your locally owned bookstore, buy a good book to read and pass it along and think of Tata.