Tere Zubizarreta

Tere Zubizarreta, whose one-woman, one-typewriter, one-client agency grew over 35 years into a Hispanic advertising powerhouse, died Thursday of cancer, which she fought personally for five years and through community agencies that she supported. She was 69.

Zubi Advertising -- which now includes her son Joe as COO and daughter Michelle as chief administrative officer -- is one of the country's largest agencies specializing in advertising to Hispanic markets in Spanish and English.

Zubizarreta launched the venture in 1972 with $465. It now has 115 employees in four offices -- Coral Gables, Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles -- and billings of $195 million.

'She felt that advertising was a very unique way of shaping and molding consumers' minds and hearts . . . and getting it out to 'her people' was very important to her," her daughter said.

Major clients include American Airlines, Ford, Winn-Dixie, Washington Mutual, S.C. Johnson and Olive Garden.

Last fall, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies gave her its lifetime achievement award, calling her a "visionary" and a "pioneer," terms that crop up in nearly every conversation with colleagues and clients.

"Tere was a pioneering woman and a real trailblazer for the Hispanic community," Ray Rodríguez, Univision president/COO, said in an e-mail. "She always fought for the underdog and won."

Miami marketing expert Jose Cancela placed Zubizarreta "at the forefront of the Spanish-language agencies. She parlayed [that] into a national presence [and] put South Florida on the map to have the ability to manage national accounts."

Teresa Zubizarreta came from the "very elite, educated" Arteaga family of Camagüey, said childhood friend and former business partner Tere Benach.

She had been an executive secretary before leaving Cuba in 1960 with husband Octavio Zubizarreta, then a hotel casino executive, and their son.

A MAN'S WORLD

When she founded her company, advertising was a man's world. She hired on as a secretary with the McCann Marschalk agency even though, as she told The Miami Herald in 1982, she knew nothing about advertising and couldn't use an electric typewriter. She told her boss: "I'll learn."

Aida Levitán, a friendly business rival, said that at the time, the Hispanic market "had not acquired the mass so that advertisers took notice. Corporations didn't see the need to advertise in Spanish."

Benach recalls that her friend went out on her own in free office space in a graphics studio at 1465 S. Miami Ave.

Zubizarreta's first client, a Kendall developer, advertised in English. But in 1976, she went bilingual and soon landed El Miami Herald -- El Nuevo Herald's predecessor -- and Pepsi, Goya Products and Jack Daniel's whiskey.

In 1977, she told The Herald, "In Cuba, perhaps this never would have happened. I would have been content, I think, just to be a well-off [homemaker] with lots of maids, people to do things for me, playing canasta. . . . Here I had to [succeed] to survive."

The El Herald account "gave tremendous prestige," Levitán said."She was very politically and [professionally] savvy and used her connections, and she fought for her business in every respect."

She was also generous with her time and money.

"We love her a lot here," said Harve Mogul, United Way of Miami-Dade president/CEO. "She is one of those people who can help folks embrace one another when times are tough. . . . She was very involved with new immigrants [and] it didn't make any difference in her life if she was talking to Cubans or Haitians. She had a huge heart."

Zubizarreta was on the local United Way board and became the first Cuban-American to served on the United Way of America's national board. She co-founded FACE, or Facts About Cuban Exiles, and was also active with La Liga Contra el Cáncer. Zubizarreta was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago, Benach said. After two years of what appeared to be successful chemotherapy, however, the cancer spread.

By then, her children were entrenched in the firm. "My mom tried to teach us, and she knew what she knew and what she didn't know," said Michelle. "The addition of us into the company would continue her legacy and would push the company to evolve" technologically.

"Her desire was that something she started would not end with her."

DETERMINATION

Her mother always believed she would triumph over cancer, Michelle said.

'Two weeks ago she said she was convinced her body and mind were in remission. . . . Two days ago, I said I was going to a staff meeting and she said, `Tell them to keep pushing.' "

In addition to her husband and children, Zubizarreta is survived by grandchildren Charlotte and Michael Zubizarreta, sister Annie Slatkoff and her children, Joshua, Jessica and Sara.

Visitation is from 8 to 11 tonight at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Funeral Home, 3344 SW Eighth St. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Kieran Catholic Church, 3605 S. Miami Ave., followed by private burial.

The family asks that donations be sent to La Liga Contra el Cáncer, the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and the United Way of Miami-Dade County.