She was born in Havana, Cuba and had a happy childhood with her parents and two sisters. When she was five, she contracted polio. As a result, she suffered various operations and was very thankful her parents raised her to never feel incapacitated in any way.
She graduated from the Instituto Edison business school in 1954.
At 17 years old, at M.N. McCall Baptist Church, she gave her life to Jesus and recognized Him as the only Lord and Savior. That is also where she met Reinaldo and they were married in 1956. Their first son was born in January 1958, and was very sick at birth. God’s grace allowed him to live and become the pride and joy of his parents and grandparents.
In 1961 and 1962, the family left Cuba under the communist regime that governed the island. Their son had to leave first with his grandmother and aunt, and it was a very sad and painful experience until they were reunited three months later in their new country.
The family relocated to Atlanta in September 1962, where they received the love and help of the members of Oakland City Baptist Church and they began a new life, like many others that had arrived to this nation.
Gilda helped establish a Spanish Mission that later became the First Spanish Baptist Church of Atlanta where she was the choir director for 25 years.
Her hobbies included singing, writing poetry and newsletters, photography, travel and collecting Snow White memorabilia.
After moving to Loganville, she and her husband remained members of Tucker First Baptist Church and in more recent years were members of Corinth Baptist Church.
A visitation will be held on Friday, August 19, 2022, at Eternal Funeral Home from 3-5pm with a funeral service starting at 5:00 pm in the Eternal Hills Funeral Home Chapel. Private burial will take place at Crest Lawn Memorial Park in Atlanta, GA.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.eternalhillsfuneralhome.com for the Reyes family.
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