Estefana N. Herrera

Estefana Norverta Herrera of West Palm Beach went to be home with the Lord on April 16, 2019, at the age of 96. She was born on August 7, 1922, in Fomento, Cuba, and lived a full life marked by faith, creativity and love of learning. She earned a Doctorate of Natural Sciences from the University of Havana in 1945, both in Zoology and Botany, and was named Fulbright Scholar in Marine Biology at the University of Miami in 1955. She taught biology at educational institutions in Holguin and Havana. After immigrating to the United States in 1961, she taught high school biology at Doerun and South Cobb High Schools until 1965. She then became associate professor at Union College in Kentucky, and in 1969 moved to West Palm Beach where she worked as a biology professor at Palm Beach Atlantic College. In 1977, Estefana left her position so that she could devote her life to taking care of her parents, and did so for the next 27 years. A lifelong Baptist, she had a deep religious faith and read the Bible every day. She was a long time member of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach and was also actively involved with Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana in West Palm Beach. An avid artist since childhood, she will be remembered for the beautiful portraits, flowers and Cuban-themed landscapes she painted. Preceded in death by parents Nieves Perez and Margarito Herrera, brothers Pascual, Procopio, Guillermo and Alejandro Herrera, and sisters Celerina Gonzalez, Maura Mitchell and Lucia Rodriguez. Survived by siblings Josefina Perea and Pascacio Herrera, and many nieces and nephews. Estefana was a loving and devoted daughter, sister and aunt, and her love of family and her servant’s heart was apparent in everything she did. We will miss her dearly.