Ana Maria Elias

Ana Maria Elias, age 70, passed away on Saturday, July 29, 2023. Ana was born on May 7, 1953 to the late William Elias and Alicia Jalube de Elias in Barranquilla, Colombia. She was the oldest of five siblings.

Ana had an avid passion for the arts, with her main talents including cross stitching, basket weaving, embossing cards, quilting, and sewing. Ana loved all kinds of music throughout her life. She grew up in Barranquilla, a city just off the coast of Colombia, South America. She always enjoyed talking to classmates, meeting new people, and was a true academic. She later moved to the United States to attend college at Purdue University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. In the college town of West Lafayette, Indiana, she was accompanied by her brother, Arturo Elias, and her two sisters, Silvia Hernandez and Marta Conway. There, they made many lasting friendships that Ana kept in touch with until her death.

After graduating from Purdue University, she moved to different states and ultimately moved to Cary, NC with her mother, Alicia, and her father, William. In North Carolina, Ana attended church regularly, was a star employee at her work, and gave all of her love and energy to her family. Ana spent most of her days tending to her mother and sister, and was a role model to her young twin niece and nephew, Ali and Andrew Hernandez. Over the course of her career, Ana endured severe hearing loss, but this never deterred her from attending church services, spending her time with family, and nurturing her many friendships. When she was able to see her nieces and nephews, she showered them with love and copious amounts of ice cream and Starbucks. Ana is known by her nieces and nephews for being the loud, exuberant, fearless, tenacious, and sometimes "crazy" aunt that they loved unconditionally.

She would live with her parents and sister, Alicia Victoria Elias (aka Pely) until selling her Cary, NC home in 2017. She didn't know that her life would quickly change after meeting her neighbor, Maurice Zeringue when she moved to Holly Springs, NC. Since 2017, Maurice has been a caring and thoughtful person in her life. They loved meeting up for excursions, taking walks, going shopping, regularly attending bible study, eating out at restaurants, passing time at Walmart, visiting with her sister Silvia, her nieces and nephews, and of course, making friends with everyone she met along the way.

Ana is survived by a large family, including brother Arturo and Marina Elias, niece Alexandra Elias, sister Silvia and Alfredo Hernandez, nephew William and Jennifer Hernandez, niece Carolynn and Charles (Bucky) Lawley III, nephew Carlos and Karenth Hernandez, niece Alicia (Ali) Hernandez, nephew Andrew Hernandez, nephew William and Jenny Conway, niece Joannie and Matthew Newsome, and her 18 great nieces and nephews.

We ask that you continue to keep Ana in your prayers for the repose of her soul, and for her to rejoin her Heavenly family: Her father William Elias, mother Alicia Jalube de Elias, sister Marta Conway, brother-in-law Joseph Conway, and sister Alicia Victoria Elias.

A live stream will start at 10:45AM with eulogies, followed by a Funeral Mass on Thursday, August 10th at 11AM at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Apex, North Carolina. Inurnment will follow within the church columbarium but will not be live streamed. She will be laid to rest next to her sister, Alicia (Pely) Elias.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make offertories to your local church and do something kind for your family in Ana's name. As Ana always said, "Love Jesus".

If you would like to leave a favorite memory/story of Ana or a message of condolence to her family, you may do so below within "add a memory".