Bertha Brunet Bueno

August 19, 1926 to December 9, 2010

Bertha Brunet Bueno, 84, of Lake Charles died at 4:15 a.m., Thursday, December 9, 2010 in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Surrounded by her family, with her daughter by her side, and in her son’s home, Bertha finally found the peace she deserved after an arduous battle with ovarian cancer.

Bertha was a native of Havana, Cuba, and she lived a gratifying life with her husband in many countries including: Havana, Cuba; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Panama City, Panama; San Jose, Costa Rica; Mexico City, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and Caracas, Venezuela. She then spent twelve years in Miami, Florida and lived the final decade of her life in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bertha was a parishioner of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church.

If you had the pleasure of knowing Bertha, you knew that the warmth and compassion she had for her family was not easily matched. Bertha truly embodied the notion that being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs, since the payment is pure love. Bertha exemplified to the fullest, in thought as well as in action, what it truly meant to be an extraordinary wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

An ancient Hebrew proverb states, that God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers. In 1960, Bertha braved the potential peril of fleeing Cuba, grasping a child under each wing and morally hoisting her husband, as they sought political asylum and forged ahead into an unknown future. Bertha benevolently dedicated her life to her loved ones. As a child, she cared for her ailing elders; as a mother, Bertha fostered every opportunity possible to ensure the success of her children; as a grandmother, she spent a decade traveling across the globe for months at a time each year to assist in her grandchildren’s well-being; as a great-grandmother, she gasped some of her last breaths in proclaiming her eternal love for Sofia, who brought Bertha her most cherished memories in her final three years; and as a wife, Bertha exhaustingly dedicated every ounce of strength to care for the greatest love of her life, her husband, who quietly battled with Alzheimer’s disease for ten years.

Bertha’s greatest passion was indeed her family: her daughter, Lourdes Bueno Broussard; son, Pedro Antonio Bueno and his wife, Silvia M. Bueno; sister, Marta Ciceraro; five grandchildren, Pedro A. Bueno Jr., Eric P. Broussard-Bueno, Cristina N. Broussard, Patrick A. Bueno, and Natalie F. Bueno; and four great-grandchildren, Simon M. Bueno, Sofia B. Broussard, Jude M. Bueno, and Felix T. Bueno.

Bertha’s memory will endure not only through her family, but also through the many people whose lives she touched with her overwhelming generosity, determined energy, and example of strength, devotion, and patience which is now rippling through the generations.

Bertha was preceded in death by: her love of 62 years, Pedro Miguel Bueno; her parents, Juan Brunet and Enriqueta Gonzalez; and her son-in-law, Stephen B. Broussard.

Bertha’s funeral will be held at Hixson Funeral Home on Sunday, December 19, 2010. A gathering of friends will be between 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. followed by a rosary service. The funeral will held be at 2:30 p.m. under the direction of Rev. Keith Pellerin. The internment of ashes will follow at Consolata Cemetary.

Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.MEM.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to St. Judes Children’s Hospital (www.StJude.org/donatenow), the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), or masses be offered at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church (www.StMartindeporres-LC.org) in Bertha Brunet Bueno’s name.

Arrangements under the direction of Woodlawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park, Greenville, SC.