Mercedes Ferrero

On Thursday, September 5, 2013 having received the Holy Sacrament, after a courageous struggle with a cruel illness, Rosita passed away surrounded by her family in the peace of the Lord. She will be missed by her dearly loved husband of 61 years, Professor Dr. Juan Francisco Estable Puig. Survived by her children Alma Rosa (John Sydor), Cristina Isabel, Adriana Beatriz (Jean- Marc Bergevin), Juan Francisco (Cristina Echenique), Mario Clemente, Ana María (Melanie Estable- Porter), José Antonio (Sylvie Chiasson) and Luis Pablo (Julie Tremblay). Lovingly referred to as Abu by 16 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

Born on May 8, 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Rosita was an exceptional woman, a gifted medical researcher, a talented university professor, an avid gardener, a poet, an artist and a creative cook. Having graduated in medicine from the Universidad de la Republica, she received a scholarship from the Organization of American States to further her knowledge in experimental research at the National Cancer Institute, US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she published her first North American paper on the polioma virus in 1961. Rosita pursued a parallel scientific career with Juan Francisco (Paco) at the National Aeronautics Space Institute (NASA) at Moffet Field, where she helped set up the neuropathology labs, conducted research, published numerous articles and had her sixth child. In 1966, after a year in Uruguay, Rosita, Paco and family emigrated to Québec City, Canada where both became tenured professors, taught many generations of students, continued to do scientific research at the Laval University School of Medicine, and had two more children. Rosita was a founding member and leader of the Scanning Electron Microscopy Society of Canada, President of the 3rd Canadian Conference of Microscopy, and a Fellow of the Medical Research Council of Canada. Over the span of her career, she co-authored over 150 scientific papers. After retiring in 1996, Rosita continued to remain very active, dedicating her considerable talents to numerous community and charitable endeavours and to their ever expanding family clan. Rosita and Paco were founding members of the Clemente Estable Foundation in Montevideo, Uruguay where she organized the first national conference of the 19 Clemente Estable primary public schools (CECE) in 2005, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in May 2014.

Friends may call at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 403 Richmond Road (at Roosevelt) on Friday, September 6, 2013 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at Parroquia Sagrada Familia Iglesia Católica Romana, 152 Glenora Street from 12 noon until time of Funeral Mass at 1 p.m. Interment will be held at Hope Cemetery, 4660 Bank Street on Monday, September 9, 2013 at 12 noon.