euskalkultura.eus

02/20/2018 - San Juan, Argentina

Rita Ofelia Larrea de Larrea, 87, died on February 20 in the city of San Juan, Argentina. She was president of Eusko Etxea of San Juan.

Ofelia, a descendant of a Basque family from Arrieta (Bizkaia), was one of the reinitiators in 2001 of the Eusko Etxea Center in San Juan. Her father was in fact one of the founders of the Basque club in 1953 being their family part of it.

Born in San Juan, her family was in Gernika during the bombing: She was six years old when she witnessed from the hills of the destruction of the city and of the murder a good number of its inhabitants by German Nazi and Fascist air forces allied with Spanish General Franco. After that his family returned definitively to San Juan.

Her colleagues from the Basque club remember her as a great reference in the culture of Euskal Herria.

"As founder of our Basque Club, she continued the legacy of her parents by promoting the Basque Culture in the province of San Juan. Ofelia: you were our reference and transmitted to us your love to the land, culture and traditions of Euskal Herria, you did it in each Basque language class, in the songs of the choir, in the pilgrimages in honor of San Ignacio of Loyola and in each anniversary of Gernika's bombing. The baserri in Gernika, the Hermitage that your father built, the Bay of Biscay, were your passion! "

Our deepest condolences to her family and to the members of Eusko Etxea de San Juan.