The Lord welcomed Graciella Isidra Isern, 95, of Havana, Cuba, into His celestial ranks on January 1, 2015.  She was born on May 25, 1919, to physician Juan Isidro Hernandez and his homemaker wife, Graciella (or as her grandchildren called her, “Pichu”).  Graciella was known as “Chelita” to her beloved husband of sixty-eight years, Raul D. Isern, MD, “Mami” to her four adoring children, and “Abe” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

When Chelitas parents, Juan Isidro and Graciella were married, her father set up his practice in the small town of Los Arabos, in the Cuban province of Matanzas, and here she grew up.  As she watched her father make house calls to his patients on horseback, she developed a great admiration for him and an interest in medicine that blossomed through the years leading her to attend dental school at the University of Havana. It was at the University’s medical school that she met a bright, handsome young medical student named Raul D. Isern (“Ruben” to his friends and family) and an eight year courtship ensued. After she graduated from dental school, she started a thriving dental practice in Havana and waited for her love, Ruben, to graduate from medical school. Upon his graduation a year later, they were married on December 8, 1945, and moved to Manzanillo, Cuba.  They lived in Manzanillo for a year until learning of an opportunity in the nearby community of Contramaestre, which was growing by leaps and bounds; they seized this opportunity and moved to Contramaestre, where they set up a clinic and hospital to handle its residents’ medical and dental needs.  Chelitas gregarious personality gained her many friends and patients as their life in Contramaestre was marked by personal happiness and professional successes. Now well established in their new home, Chelita and Ruben were eager to start a family but were stymied by several miscarriages. In November 1950, the Isern’s were finally able to celebrate the arrival of their first child, a daughter named Yvette.  Through the coming decade, the young couple was blessed thrice more with sons Reuben and Raul, Jr. and their youngest daughter, Isel.

As the Isern’s enjoyed their growing family and reveled in their business triumphs, dark days were on the horizon in Cuba with the ascension of Fidel Castro to power in 1959.  Castro ruled Cuba with an iron fist and showed his true Communist colors shortly after taking office, engaging in the nuclear game of chicken with the United States known as the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and forcibly seizing residents’ personal property shortly thereafter.  By early 1966, Chelita and Ruben’s fifteen year old son Reuben was facing mandatory military service, and they realized that the only way he could truly be free was to send him away from the only home he had ever known.  Many Cuban families had already immigrated to other countries fleeing the persecution of the Castro Regime.  One such prominent family was Chelita and Ruben’s good friend, Adolfito Danguillecourt y Bacardi who with his family, had immigrated to Spain. Through countless tears and broken hearts, they sent Reuben to Spain and asked their friends the Dandiguillecourt y Bacardi’s to look after him and help him seek a way to ultimately immigrate to the United States.  For Chelita, the ultimate mother hen, sending her son away was the most soul crushing decision she had ever made, but she accepted that it had to be done to save Reuben’s life.  She placed her young son into Gods care and sent him to find freedom by way of Spain. Reuben remained in Spain until late 1966 at which time he was able to travel to the United States.

Now 1967, and with Reuben in the United States, the rest of the family was finally able to leave their homeland and immigrated to Spain as well. Reuben had moved to Miami and lived with good friends, Pedro and Ana Arisso who looked after him and treated him like their own son.  The task now at hand, was finding a way to reunite the family and become whole once again.  Ruben initially struggled to obtain visas to the United States for the whole family but was ultimately successful and the family was reunited in the United States in August of 1967.  With four young children and not a penny to their names, Chelita and Ruben formulated a plan to provide for their family.  Ruben sought employment all over the country but was most attracted to an opportunity one of his colleagues had told him about in a small town in Southeast Texas called Beaumont; once he passed the Texas Medical Board exam, the Isern’s settled in Beaumont in 1969. 

Chelita used her medical training to aid her husband in the first few years of his Texas medical practice; after she realized how much she had on her plate between raising a family and getting her husband’s office off the ground, she made the decision to step away from the medical world and concentrate on teaching her children to live their lives for God and each other.  Even though the Isern’s were still relatively new to America, Chelita instilled in her children a love of the country that opened its arms to them while making sure they never forgot their roots.

The love Chelita showed for her family and friends was rooted in a deep and abiding love of the Lord that manifested itself every day of her life. She came by her faith naturally, for her parents had raised her to be thankful for the Lord’s blessings on a daily basis and taught her to confide in Him through prayer. When she became a parent and later a grandparent and great-grandparent, she passed her love and trust in the Lord on to her offspring.  She always found her greatest joy in daily prayer, talking to God and praying the rosary daily. Even in the loss of her beloved son Reuben, she exuded a peace and calm that could only be achieved through an unshakable faith in God.  Ruben indulged his wife’s faith by taking her to various religious shrines including Fatima, the Holy Land, The Vatican, Lourdes and others which further reinforced her love and relationship with our Creator.  Her love for God and our Virgin Mother was so great that when at the beginning of her marriage she had such difficulty in maintaining a pregnancy, she made a promise to the Virgin Mary that should her first child be a girl she would give her the name Rosario in honor the Holy Rosary which our Holy Mother loved so much.  Should the child be a boy, his name would be Juan after San Juan Bosco.  The first child was in fact a girl and would be named Yvette del Rosario but to Chelita, the only name she ever called her was Rosarito, fulfilling her promise to our Holy Mother.  Chelita loved the Rosary and always spoke of the wondrous and powers of this beautiful gift. On the day of her death and on the moment at which God chose to call her name, the Rosary of the Devine Mercy was being recited with her and for her at her bedside. This I assure you, would have been her ultimate joy!

Chelita was a caregiver and generous with everyone she loved. As soon as she was able, she arranged to bring her mother from Cuba and brought her to her home to live until the day she passed at the age of 96. Her two spinster aunts were also welcomed by her in Beaumont until they passed at the ages of 98 and 95.  She was blessed to have two of siblings in the United States but one remained in Cuba; her sister, Cuquita who she loved dearly. Cuquita had five children and thus coming to the United States was not an option since a separation from all of them would have been unconscionable. Although a difficult challenge, Chelita arranged for periodic visits for her sister to the United States so that they could be reunited and enjoy their mother and siblings and together.

Chelita also loved to shop; for her, a day at the clothing racks was a day fulfilled.  She made sure to always look her best at all times, and her passion for fashion lent itself to hours long trips to the mall while her husband dutifully indulged her.  Cooking for friends and family was another one of her joys; while her skills were rudimentary at best when she arrived in the United States, she quickly got the hang of the kitchen and was complimented near and far for her culinary talents. She passed those talents on to her daughters, who have carried on the tradition of making scrumptious Cuban food for all to enjoy.

In the eyes of her children, as a mother she had no equal. She was completely dedicated to each one of them and sacrificed everything selflessly for them.  Chelita pushed and demanded their excellence and each one of them loved her for it. She was a learned teacher and a concerned counselor. Chelita listened efficiently and she advised wisely.  A stern disciplinarian but a sweet consoler. Overprotective to a fault but allowed for the lessons learned by mistakes.  A poet, writer and philosopher she constantly wrote of the things which inspired her.  Chelita Isern was a model of faith and an example of motherhood that all of us should strive to emulate.  While we on earth mourn her physical loss, we also rejoice in her heavenly reunion with her parents; son, Reuben; brother, Nando; sisters, Cuquita and Lilita; and beloved husband, Ruben. So great was the love they shared that the anniversary of the day their courtship began, September 29, was just as much a cause for celebration as their wedding anniversary. In fact, that day lent itself to special dinners and exchanges of gifts in every year of their marriage.

Graciella’s legacy survives in her children; daughter, Yvette del Rosario Isern Estrada and her husband, Dr. Rolando Estrada; and son, Dr. Raul D. Isern, Jr. and his wife, Mary Isern, all of Beaumont; and daughter, Isel Maria Isern Caballero and her husband, Eduardo Caballero, of Houston; five grandchildren, Mario R. Juan; Diorella N. McGuire and her husband, Joseph McGuire; Raul D. Isern III; Gabriella M. Caballero; and Eduardo C. Caballero; and two great-grandchildren, Cosette N. McGuire and Beckham J. McGuire. 

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Dr. Raul (Ruben) D. Isern; her adoring son, Dr. Reuben A. Isern; parents; and siblings. 

Mrs. Isern’s family and friends are invited to celebrate this extraordinary woman’s life from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., with her Rosary recited at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, January 4, 2015, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1:00 p.m., Monday, January 5, 2015, at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 6825 Gladys Avenue, Beaumont, with her interment to follow at Magnolia Cemetery, Beaumont.