Maria Aurelia Barro

Maria A. Barro

11/14/1933 - 04/02/2024

Three months and one week after losing her beloved “Pipo”, Maria Aurelia Barro joined her husband of 66 years, Nicolas J. Barro in eternal paradise on April 2, 2024, at the age of 90.

Aurelia was born in Olveda, Antas de Ulla, Lugo, Spain on November 14, 1933, to the late Antonio and Avelina Gomez Gomez. The eldest of 10 siblings, Aurelia left Spain in 1955 for Cuba in hopes of finding financial opportunity to help her family in Galicia, Spain. In Havana, she not only found work but found Pipo who changed the trajectory of her life. They married in 1957 and they often reminisced about the joy of their early years in beautiful Cuba, the ability to help care for their family back in Spain, and their transatlantic ocean voyages.

In 1968, Aurelia and Pipo emigrated to the United States to start over in New York. They worked as a team to rebuild their life and start small businesses in Newark and then Elizabeth, New Jersey where they lived until moving to Mountainside, NJ thirty years ago.  Aurelia was a hands-on Abuelita who was also lovingly referred to as Aya and Ita. She was selfless and poured all her love into helping raise her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was proud that she had the privilege of caring for them in their early years and beyond. Her greatest joys were seeing her children and grandchildren happy and spending summers in Spain surrounded by her family.

In addition to her adoring husband, Aurelia is pre-deceased by her brothers Pepe and Jesus Gomez Gomez. She is survived by daughters, Marisol Garcia (Alvaro), Maribel Romaine (Neil), grandchildren, Jennifer Martinez (Scott Coulston), Jessica Garcia, Brian Garcia (Myranda Floyd), Kate Torres, Grace Torres (Anthony Nuñez), Emma Torres, great-grandchildren, Nicholas Martinez and Julian Torres. Siblings, Filomena (Antonio), Asunción, Javier (Encina), Carmen (Angel), Celsa (Jose), Antonio (Tere), Manolo (Salud), Luis (Marisa), numerous nieces/nephews, great nieces/nephews, and her comfort companion, Henry. 

Over twenty years ago, Aurelia battled breast cancer overcoming it with her grit and determination. In her later years, she valiantly faced the challenges of dialysis with resiliency. The family is eternally grateful to Dr. James Agresti, the staff at Fresenius Kidney Care Kenilworth, Dr. Fransico Muñoz and Dr. Vance Weber for their extraordinary care and empathy.  As the matriarch to her grateful family, she will always be remembered for the strength she exhibited when faced with life’s many obstacles. “Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.” – C.S. Lewis

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Aurelia’s memory to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or to a charity of your choice.