Ileana Megias Nadal (October 28, 1950 – August 3, 2023) was born in Cuba and came from a family of fine artists and architects. She carried on that tradition by becoming a successful and educated artist, earning a B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in Tampa, and an M.A. in Education from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. She went on to teach emerging artists at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico, at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, and in several private programs. In addition, she created, exhibited, and sold her own award-winning work. Some of that artwork is in private collections throughout the US, Canada, South America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Ileana also illustrated children’s books and married her love of dogs and art by creating breathtaking portraits of dogs at work and play.
Ileana became involved in training and showing dogs in 1972 and was one of the pioneers of the sport of dog agility in 1989. She opened her own dog training school, Cool Critters, in Valrico, Florida, and taught thousands of people how to raise healthy, well-behaved, happy puppies and dogs, while also teaching high-level dog sports to serious competitors. In addition, she volunteered her time to 4-H participants, dog training clubs, and other dog-related groups, including her beloved Boxer club, while continuing to run her fine arts studio.
Ileana also enjoyed martial arts, earning a third-degree black belt in taekwondo before leaving the sport due to its physical demands. Ileana had plenty of friends and interests and was most often busy with one activity or planning the next one!
If you had asked Ileana about her accomplishments, raising three wonderful young men would have been at the top of her list. She worked hard to give them a great start in life and they will be a testament to that. Ileana is survived by her three sons Frank Nadal, Eric Nadal, and Bob Nadal.
Ileana is deeply missed by a large group of friends and family who were touched by her kind, giving, and supportive nature. There will be a celebration of her life, in the best way her family could find to represent her, this Thursday evening (8/10) from 7-10 pm in the pole barn at her house.
The agility field will be open, so please come in your favorite Cool Critters t-shirts or your favorite agility trial outfits, and bring your agility dogs to play at Cool Critters one more time.
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