Aleida Betancourt Robaina

1932 - 2024

Aleida Betancourt Robaina
October 18, 1932 - November 23, 2024
Aleida Betancourt Robaina, 92, of Essex, wife of the late Antonio Robaina, passed away November 23, 2024 at Portland Care and Rehabilitation Center.
Aleida was born in Havana, Cuba on October 18, 1932, the daughter of Alfredo and Victoria (Lopez-Parente) Betancourt.
After coming to the United States in 1961 fleeing the Castro regime, she worked as a bi-lingual secretary at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City and Olin/Winchester in New Haven, CT. Affectionally known as "Abu", she was a gracious, intelligent, charming woman who was loved and admired by everyone she met. She had many friends and was entirely at ease in any social setting. She had the interesting habit of putting ice in her white wine, no matter how expensive, much to the horror of her children. There was rarely an invitation she declined, and there was no family function that she ever missed.
Aleida is survived by her children, Aleida (Ali) Herzog and her husband, Joseph, Antonio C. Robaina and his wife, Susan B. Handy, and Ana M. Robaina. She leaves behind her beloved grandchildren, Alexandra Crosby (Benjamin), Christopher Herzog (Marie), Katherine Robaina, Thomas Robaina (Jessica) and Liam Leavy and her great-grandchildren, Hannah Crosby, Maxfield Crosby, Hugo Herzog and Desmond Herzog.
A private funeral service was held in the Wallingford Funeral Home with burial in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Meriden. A celebration of life will be held at a future date.
www.wallingfordfh.com