Mercedes Zulueta Herrero

Mercedes (Merche) Herrero, 77, passed away at home, surrounded by loved ones, on Friday, May 10. Born Mercedes Zulueta Clavel on June 15, 1941, in Madrid, Spain, Merche was the daughter of Rafael Zulueta Melgarejo and Mercedes Clavel Nolla. She grew up in Murcia, Spain, where she graduated first in her class at Jesús Maria High School. In 1962, she married Javier Herrero Saura and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1966, they moved to the United States, and settled in Charlottesville in 1979. Throughout her life, she maintained strong ties to her native land and extended Spanish family. Merche volunteered for decades at Recording for the Blind, gave blood regularly, and for a few years, taught Spanish at the Covenant School. She will be remembered for her natural grace and her exuberant and contagious love of life. Creative by nature, throughout her life she pursued the arts in study and practice, from pottery to poetry. She enriched the lives of those around her with her sweetness, humor and generosity. Merche is survived by her husband of 56 years, Javier, a retired professor of Spanish Literature at University of Virginia, her children Alberto (Angela), Mercedes, and Matilde (Peter), her grandchildren: Rafael and Javi, her sisters: Maria (Santos), Maribel (Pepe), Mari Carmen (Vicente), and her brother, Rafael ( Fina), 27 nieces and nephews, and many great nieces and nephews. A funeral mass will be held Monday, May 20, at 11am at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 401 Alderman Rd in Charlottesville. Memorial contributions can be made to Children International at children.org.