Zully Esther Cervantes

Zully was born in Barranquilla, Colombia on 7/25/1950 to Elisa and Julio Cervantes. She was the middle of 6 children. She went on to marry Justo Altamar at the young age of 17 and later at age 18 had her first daughter Ingrid.  

Justo’s dream was to live in NY and they made that dream a reality a couple of years later. She left Ingrid behind in Colombia with her grandparents until her papers were in order.  After six long years Ingrid was able to join her parents in America. 

Zully was known as “the young mom”. She was beautiful with a smile that would like up the darkest rooms. She had a hard life with Justo. They later divorced and Zully was forced to work two jobs to provide for Ingrid.

In 1988, Zully met Ramon in Miami through a mutual friend. She would spend the rest of her life with him. Zully left NY in 1988 and moved to Miami Springs, FL to be with him. 

By a miracle of God, Zully welcomed Annairis Escobar to this world at the age of 39, 20 years after having Ingrid. Annairis became an obsession to them all. Zully loved and protected her as much, if not more, from all the lessons learned with Ingrid. 

After living in Florida for 9 years, Zully, packed all their things and moved to North Bergen, NJ where Ingrid had found a quaint little apartment where the 4 of them could live together. Ingrid had already been living in NJ. She wanted to go back to school and Zully wanted to do everything in her power to help Ingrid reach those goals. Zully would start working at the New York Waterway Ferry as a ticket agent. She worked there until she retired. 

After moving, Zully made friends quickly. Zully had a way about her. If you became her friend, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to help you. She loved to take others under her wing. Her kindness and warm heart were the biggest reasons why all of Ingrid and Annie’s friends saw her as a second mom. Zully became a member of Second Spanish Baptist Church in Union City, NJ. Throughout her life she had a lot of various responsibilities at church but favorite was as the secretary. All the kids at church were like her own kids. When those kids had kids of their own, she treated those kids as if they were her grandchildren. She enjoyed working in church very much.

Once she retired, she moved to Florida where Ingrid had already moved a few years prior. This was the first time in the 27 years of Annairis’s life that they would be separated. It hurt them both tremendously, but they knew that they would see each other soon. Annairis would travel to Florida often to spend time with her mom.  

Although leaving Annairis was tough, the best part about moving to Florida was being with Ingrid again. They hung out, went shopping, did their nails, and had sleep overs. They were best friends. Zully was diagnosed with end stage renal disease from which she needed to go on dialysis. Medically, that was the hardest thing for her. She fought hard and wanted so much to get a kidney transplant. We were trying very hard to make that happen. God had another plan for her, she left this life and all its pain on August 27th. 

We say goodbye to the most remarkable caring and loving human. We find comfort in knowing that we will meet again someday. The pain is finally over, and she is cooking, laughing, and dancing in heaven. She is loved by so many and will be missed forever. She sacrificed everything for the well-being of her daughters. We will always remember her warm hugs, her amazing smile, the way she laughed when she was truly having a great time, and her love for the holidays. Our mom was an amazing woman. She loved her daughters endlessly.

When Ingrid married Bobby, she knew she gained a son that would always have her best interest in mind. When Annairis married Val, she gained a loving son that would love to spoil her rotten. With Val she also gained her first granddaughter, Emily. Zully loved Emily with all her heart and would light up whenever Emily went to visit.  

Mami, we love you. Thank you for everything you did for us. You are the best mom in the universe. There will never be a day when we do not thank God for letting us borrow you for the time that we had you. You truly are the wind beneath our wings. 

Due to COVID-19, private family services will be held. A live stream link will be made available for your viewing.