Sara Lequerica de la Vega

SARA LEQUERICA DE LA VEGA, 1921-2009

DISCOVERED FOR MANY THE CULTURAL
ROOTS OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE

Cuban-American educator and author Sara Lequerica de la Vega died on October 29 in her home in Northridge, California after a long illness. She was 88 years old.

She was born in Buenavista, Las Villas, Cuba on September 24, 1921. Her father was an important medical doctor who became Director of the Remedios Hospital in Cuba. In 1944 she received a degree as a Professor of Piano from the Mora Conservatory in Havana, and for several years played chamber music with various classical music groups. In 1946 she graduated from the University of Havana School of Education as Professor of English. One year later she married well known classical music composer Aurelio de la Vega, who would become her husband for 63 years. She lived in Redlands, California in 1947-48, while her husband was studying in Los Angeles with Ernst Toch, visited the United States on several occasions during 1953 and 1954, lived again in Redlands (1957-1959) and, after a brief sojourn to her native land, settled in Northridge in mid 1959. While still in Cuba she was Professor of Spanish Literature at Colegio El Salvador, Miramar, Havana from 1952-1957. In 1965 she became an American citizen.

From 1960 to 1970 she taught at James Monroe High School in the San Fernando Valley, where she became Chairperson of the Foreign Languages Department. In January of 1969 she received a Master's Degree in Spanish from California State University, Northridge, and from 1970 to her retirement in 1989 she taught Spanish at Los Angeles Valley College. She was a Professor Emerita at that institution until her death.

During her many years as Professor of Spanish she specialized in developing curricula for the Advanced Placement courses, and gave many seminars for aspiring teachers under the auspices of the Los Angeles Unified School District. In all her teachings she discovered for her students many aspects of the history and culture of Spain and of the various Latin American countries, injecting art, literature and music into the daily learning process. She was chairperson of the Southern California chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

From the late 1970's to her death she was a major force in the cultural activities of Patronato José Martí of Los Angeles, an organization established for the purpose of preserving and disseminating Cuban culture. She was president of this organization for four years during the decade of the 1980's. She was a member of the Cuban American Teachers Association and of the National Association of Cuban American Educators.

She was the author of a very successful Spanish grammar textbook, Avanzando: gramática española y lectura, which she wrote with Dr. Carmen Salazar Sicroff as co-author and which is now in its Sixth Edition.

In 1988 she received the medal Kiss of the Motherland from the Los Angeles Chapter of the Junta Patriótica Cubana for her incessant activities in bringing to the attention of several generations of Americans the rich heritage of Cuban culture.

She is survived by her husband Dr. Aurelio de la Vega, her brother Francisco Lequerica, of Navarre, Florida; her nieces Carmen Najork, of Newbough, New York, and Kati Orenstein, of Pensacola, Florida; her nephew Frank Lequerica, of Memphis, Tennessee, and five grand nephews and one grand niece.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, November 14, at 1:00 p.m. at Mission Hills Catholic Mortuary (818) 361-7387.

(Above photo of Sara Lequerica de la Vega was taken in 1987)