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obituaries and eulogies

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This page currently contains the following obituaries and eulogies, listed below in the following order:

an obituary for William Velte - by Lee Asheroff

an obituary for Francesca Todaro - by Bob Wolfe

an obituary for Carmen de Masip - by Ines Roberts

a eulogy for Gerry Wodin- by Lee Asheroff  

an obituary for Gerry Wodin - by Allen McGill

a eulogy for Gerry Wodin -  by Michael Wein

obituary for Gerry Wodin  -   by  Sylvia Rosenthal

obituary for Alejandro Ferretis – by Francesca Fisher

7/15/04   William Velte - by Lee Asheroff

Friends of Luisa Velte and the late Jack Velte are saddened by the news of the untimely death of their son Bill Velte, of Puerta Vallarta. Bill passed away on Saturday, July 10 in San Miguel with his mother and his sister Robin at his side. Our best wishes go to Luisa and Robin at this sad time.

6/22/04       ADIOS, FRANCESCA TODARO   by Bob Wolfe

Francesca Todaro, San Miguel's "Pearl Mesta" and former Director of Public 
Relations at the Bellas Artes died on June 16, 2004 at the Alma facility in 
San Miguel. She was 83.

For many years, Francesca was known throughout the community as the 
gracious hostess of countless cultural events. She was often used as a 
model at fashion shows and had the looks and style of a movie queen. 
Francesca was an important figure in the development of many local 
programs. For example, she was a founder of the Club de Golf Malanquin and 
the parent land development company, La Mesa; served as President of the 
San Miguel Kennel Club; and was an early director of the Spanish Language 
Department at the Instituto Allende.

Francesca was born in Cuba. Her father was President of the Coca Cola 
company in pre-Castro times. She was schooled in Georgia and Massachusetts. 
She came to San Miguel in the Sixties and quickly established herself as 
one of the leading figures of the town and will be remembered as a unique 
personality in San Miguel's history. Francesca leaves a daughter, Theresa 
and son, Richard (both of Mexico City) as well as grandchildren and great 
grandchildren.

6/6/04 an obituary for Carmen de Masip - by Ines Roberts

All San Miguel is saddened by the death of Carmen Masip on Monday, May 3rd. .Carmen was Bellas Artes—she was its Director for more years than I can remember, eventually trying to resign to no avail!

She was the founder of San Miguel’s Chamber Music Festival, now in its 26th grand season. She was once youthful and acted in plays…she married war veteran Jim Hawkins and they had a beautiful daughter, Paulina. She and Jim had the first art supply store in San Miguel right on the Jardín (there’s a coffee shop there now). She also founded the Academia Hispano Americana, the very first school in town to specialize in teaching Spanish to foreigners—daughter Paulina runs it now.

Carmen was proud of her Spanish heritage—her father took refuge in Mexico from the Franco government—she never lost her rich Spanish accent and so enjoyed her trips to Spain with Jim.

Carmen loved entertaining and she had a wonderful cook that everyone envied!

Carmen was the essence of San Miguel, that San Miguel that us old-timers revere.

Carmen was always there…and now she isn’t.

Carmen, we will always remember you.  

Copied with permission from The San Miguel Chronicles, Ines Roberts, editor -- for a free subscription, send a blank email to list@thesanmiguelchronicles.com

5/22/04 Gerry – San Miguel will not be the same without you       by Lee Asheroff  

Far away from home I opened the SMA paper online to catch up with the news from San Miguel and read about the passing of  my dear friend, Gerry Wodin.  

One of a kind, Gerry defied description  Appearing slow moving and calm – she was a dynamo of activity as evidenced by the organizations she founded or worked for along with her husband Bob. The 24 Hour Association, The Playreaders, The Players Workshop, The Shakespeare Readers – all received the benefit of Gerry’s energy. And so did her many friends.  

It was 1982 and we had just arrived in San Miguel when friends asked us to come along to the Chanukah celebration the Wodins held for all comers. We were astounded to see about 50 people in the living room of the Wodin house and were greeted warmly by Gerry and Bob. And this began a friendship that lasted for all these years. The Chanukah party grew each year until over 70 people were crammed into the house each December.

Lupe made hundreds of potato “latkes”, delicious little morsels served at this holiday.  Those of us who had Menorahs (the special candle holders used on this holiday) lit them and we sang songs in the soft  light of the candles. The year I forgot to bring Chanukah candles, Gerry showed me that Posada candles fit  in our Menorah – a nice blending of Jewish and Spanish tradition.  Gerry continued the tradition until the size of the ever growing crowd forced her to stop.  

She played a large part in our San Miguel lives – dinner at her house or ours always a pleasure. Her wry humor at dinner or as she introduced the play readings delighted us. The audience at the Play Readings would await her introduction with as much anticipation as the play itself. And Gerry’s “asides” as she read the announcements never let us down. One year we came across a silver pin with the comedy and tragedy masks of the theatre as we shopped in Tasco.  My husband said – “This is for Gerry” and we brought it home for her. She was so pleased with it that she wore it to every play reading and made sure to show it to me. We are happy that such a simple thing gave her so much pleasure.  

One of my first phone calls when I returned to San Miguel after a visit to the States was always to Gerry  – it will be hard to arrive and not make that call.  

Gerry – you enriched our lives and we will miss you.

 
5/18/04 an obituary for Gerry Wodin - June 25, 1922 - May 13, 2004 - by Allen McGill
Gerry was one of the cornerstones of San Miguel, being active in many community organizations: Patronato de los Niños, Red Cross Ambulance, Player's Workshop, Playreaders, Shakespeare Readers, 24-Hour Association, Outreach, columnist for Atención and active member of the Jewish Community. She was also known as a gracious hostess, with always with an open door and heart, treating everyone as family.

Born of Russian immigrant parents in New York City, the eldest child and only daughter, she was an avid reader and she spent much of her time in the city's libraries and museums. She tried her hand at selling cosmetics while studying theatre - eventually becoming a radio actress. To escape the heat one summer, Gerry worked as drama coach in a Catskill children's camp, where she met the new rabbi, Robert Wodin, whom she married ten years later.

WWII found the couple in the Aleutian Islands, where Bob was stationed. They later moved to New York, where their first child, Bonnie, was born. Another move, to Boston, and daughter Laurie entered the scene.

The Caribbean, Europe, South America, India, Kenya and Mexico were parts of the world they traveled together as their new shoe importing business began to realize some success. One Mexico visit introduced them to San Miguel, to which they moved in 1979. But the sedentary life wasn't for Gerry. She involved herself in every aspect of the at-that-time "primitive" life of the town, determined to enliven the cultural scene.

Gerry was widely recognized and admired for so many things and will be greatly missed. As Father Michael Long said when he'd learned of her passing: "She was like an institution. Institutions age, but somehow you always expect them to be there." She will, in our hearts, memories and the many good works she's left behind in San Miguel.

Surviving her are daughters Bonnie and Laurie, grandchildren Aaron, Sarah and Lissa Ann.
Also, her beloved Lupe Hernandez, who was her closest friend, nurse, daughter, confidant and right-arm strength for so many years. Roberto, Lupe's young son, was the bright new light in Gerry's life.

We will all miss a multi-talented, gracious lady.

5/15/04      a eulogy for Gerry Wodin -  by Michael Wein

Gerry was big, but oh so unimposing and gentle.  She hid well her many many talents.   What you saw first was her genuine helpfulness in every instance that you might come across her.  She was my neighbor, as I lived just a few houses around the corner from her for years.  I saw her on the street, at her salon (really just called the Shakespeare Readers), and at The Playreaders at St. Paul's, where she would hold forth as the normal bi-weekly introducer of that night's play.  She would appear with her yellow pad of notes ("just a few notes before we begin", she would say, and we'd prepare for the normal funny repartee).   A few times (well, most of the time) something did not go according to plans and she would quickly and neatly improvise a witty and useful remark to soothe the ruffles on her high-bred, sophisticated, and demanding (for the price they had paid for their admission) audience.

Her hosting of the bi-weekly (alternating with The Playreaders) Shakespeare Readers was always a joy.  Once again, with genuine softness, she controlled the "situation".   Here, almost everything did go according to plan, except the readings, but that was part of the fun.

I met Gerry, for the first time, shortly after my arrival in SMA.   I registered with the 24-Hour Association and Gerry, again most gently, because death was not my favorite plan, led me through the process.  With Gerry at the helm, now I was prepared "to go". 

And I remember seeing Gerry during my own recuperation from spinal surgery.  Walking towards each other in opposite directions, both of us having difficulty walking, we greeted each other with everyday hellos of "How are you?" and "Fine" and then we both laughed out loud as obviously "Fine" was not the right answer for either of us.

Oh, Gerry, I will think of you from time to time and a smile will always come to my face as I remember so many lovely things about you.   Rest in peace.

5/13/04   -   obituary for GERRY WODIN  -   A goodbye to a dear friend from Sylvia Rosenthal

 San Miguel lost one of its great ladies today.  She was involved -more than involved--she was the president of all three of the longest lived theater organizations in San Miguel.

And she truly was The Shakespeare Readers.   Every bit of information about The Shakespeare Readers in my piece (click on non-profit organizations) came from meetings with Gerry and reading the records she kept.  We met at her house-Jesus 52.   We even met at Jesus 52 when Gerry was out of town.  She kept all the records.  She stored all the volumes from which we read.  She saw to it that there was always tea and coffee ready for our parched throats at break time.  When the cookie person reneged for some reason, Gerry always found a little something in her kitchen to fill in the emptiness.

But how will we fill in the emptiness now?

5/8/04 obituary  for   Alejandro Ferretis – by Francesca Fisher

Alejandro was a deeply intellectual and reflective man, and struck me as unusually sophisticated in his appreciation for culture and philosophy. 

He was a rare, passionate and complex individual  which he so intuitively portrayed in his memorable performance in the film “Japon”.  

Objectives of this page:  to present the residents of this town with a place to record their thoughts regarding those who lived amongst us but who are no longer with us.