Nilda Rose Fernandez, 69, Adored Her Children and Grandchildren

Nilda was born in Lorain, Ohio on June 17, 1951. When she was almost four years old her mother passed away, and along with her siblings, she was placed in Parmadale Orphanage in Parma, Ohio for six years. Afterwards she was raised in foster care in the home of Hector and Rafaela Torres. This life experience, in addition to the separation of her brothers and sisters, instilled in Nilda a deep devotion and love for family.

Nilda attended elementary school in Parmadale and St. Joseph School in Lorain. When she graduated from Lorain High School in 1969, she was the first in her family to do so. She began as a legal secretary, but spent most of her career as a medical secretary in ICU and the Emergency Room, first at St. Joseph Hospital and then eventually retiring from Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain. She loved serving those in crisis and in turn was loved and respected by her co-workers.

Nilda met the love of her life, Mike Fernandez, and they were married in 2003. Together they forged a life that was built on the foundation that faith and family is everything. Nilda lived the most extraordinary of an ordinary life. She wrapped her loving arms around her husband, children, grandkids, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, friends, and sometimes people that she barely knew, and tried to shelter them from any pain or harm. No one, not a simple soul in her life, would ever want for love and comfort when she could do something about it, and that endeared her to all.

Nilda beautified everything in her life. She adored her children and grandchildren, and they in return adored her. To everyone that she knew she opened her heart and her home. Nothing brought her more pleasure than to have her family and friends over to visit. For over 50 years, every day was an open house where you could go and eat, drink coffee, and have fun-filled or heavy conversations with family (and everyone was family); she was our loving matriarch and the glue that kept the family together. If you heard her laugh, it just made your day better; you’d never know that she was a twice cancer survivor. She was the essence of the beauty of the simple human heart. We promise…as long as we live, she will live, for she is a part of us forever.

Nilda will be dearly missed by her husband, Mike Fernandez; sons Oscar Figueroa Jr. (Monica Diaz) of Lorain, David (Tina) Figueroa of Ellenton, Florida, Michael Figueroa of Amherst; daughter Stephanie (Jeremy) Branham of Amherst; stepson Michael (Crystal) Fernandez of Las Vegas, Nevada; stepdaughter Shelly Fouch of Cape Coral, Florida; her beautiful grandchildren Oriana Figueroa, Oscar Figueroa III, Alex Figueroa, Audrianna Figueroa, Briana Branham, Noah Branham, Nicolas Branham, Harlee Branham, Zach Fouch, Jesse Fernandez, Brianna Fernandez, and Isabella Fernandez; brothers H. Edward Rivera, Cel Rivera (Elba Armstrong), Hector Rivera, and Bill (Velda) Rivera; sisters Gloria Gomez, Carmen Lillian Homolya, and Elba Rivera and her foster mom Rafaela Torres, along with many loved nephews and nieces, and foster brothers and sisters. She was blessed with a trio of special friends that she loved dearly – Lillian Davila, Judy Lozano, and Nancy Bermudez.

She was preceded in death by her parents Celestino and Angelita Rivera, her foster dad Hector Torres, and brother-in-law Julio Gomez.

Her Family will receive friends Tuesday, February 9 from 4 PM until time of her funeral service at 7 PM at the Richard J. Reidy Funeral Home, 1783 East 31st Street, South Lorain. Deacon, Rocky Ortiz of Sacred Heart Chapel, Lorain will officiate. Burial information will be forthcoming.

In lieu of flowers, you can make a contribution in Nilda’s name to the American Cancer Society or Autism Speaks in Independence, Ohio…or in memory of her loving and generous nature, do something kind, unexpected and unsolicited, for someone who needs it.

For expressions of sympathy and further information, please visit Reidyfuneral.com.