Jeannette Otis Fuller Hausler's Obituary
HAUSLER, JEANNETTE OTIS FULLER, 89, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, friend, role model, trailblazer, and pillar of the community, passed away peacefully on a day of gratitude, Thanksgiving Day, following a life full of passion, humility, benevolence, service and always "Cien por Ciento Cubana!" One of eight children, Jeanette was born on June 10, 1929 in Holgu¡n, Oriente, Cuba, to parents William Otis Fuller and Jennie Marie Jewett. In 1903, at the turn of the century and after the Spanish-American war, Jeannette's mother's family moved from Massachusetts to Cuba and established a thriving business-plantation, including sugarcane and cattle, and constructed the island's first lumber mill. At just 10 years old, with deep admiration for her father, a charismatic negotiator, decided she wanted to pursue the study of law; at 12 years old, Jeannette was committed to becoming a Catholic. She became both to the highest degrees. At the age of 16, she began her college career and ultimately earned her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Miami. In 1949, the same year her father graduated, the 18 year-old ingenue entered Miami School of Law (where she shrewdly avoided Professor Hausler's Contracts and Taxation classes upon advice of Papa). In 1953, at the age of 21, she received her Juris Doctorate as one of only five women in her class. Upon graduation, she was wooed by Professor Richard A. Hausler, a long-time revered law professor at the University of Miami, with weekly letters as she pursued her doctorate in civil law at the University of Havana, Cuba. Jeannette "Lollipop" and her beloved "Ricucho" as they affectionately called each other, shared an incredible love story and eventually married in La Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus in Vedado, Havana, Cuba, in May of 1955. In 1959, Jeannette and her family left Cuba for Miami, Fl for the last time, she set aside her legal career to care for her loving children. On Oct. 16, 1960 she greatly mourned the execution of her brother, Robert Otis Fuller, by the Castro Regime. Subsequently, she answered the call to serve her community, alongside her father, as the first teachers of "English as a Second Language," or ESOL, for Cuban Refugees at Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She also served as a guidance counselor and vice principal at Kinloch Park Middle School from 1961 to 1973. In 1974, she gallantly began her role as The First Dean of Students at Miami School of Law, where she served until 2009. A Eucharistic minister at Epiphany Catholic Church, Jeannette was an active member of The Florida Bar, St. Thomas University, University of Miami Iron Arrow Honor Society, the lay religious Order of the Dames of Malta and the Dames of St. Gregory, Phi Delta Kappa, the educator's organization. In 2006, she was the first recipient to receive the University of Miami's Alumni Association's "Alumna of Distinction Award." "Her memory within the Miami Law community will always be linked with the husband she loved so much, Professor Richard Hausler," said Dean Emeritus Dennis O. Lynch. "To know them was to respect and admire them." Described by many as an "angel" or "saint," Jeanette dedicated her life to service with humility, benevolence, and a heavy dollop of sage advice to all. She truly was a beautiful legend and will be dearly missed. She was preceded in death by her loving husband Richard; infant child, Charles Arthur; daughter Ellen; parents, William and Jennie Fuller; and siblings, William Fuller, Robert Otis "Bobby" Fuller, Jerome Fuller, Irene Fuller Moss, and Angela Grace Lutes. She is survived by siblings; Frances Ruth and Frederick Fuller; children, Jennie, Donald, and Philomena; son-in-law, Richard McGonigal; granddaughter "Chiquitina" Madeleine Isabella; beloved caregiver, Digna Esperanza Zelaya, whom she proudly considered a daughter; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. "Su fortaleza y inteligencia era una inspiraci¢n a todos. Jeannette Otis Fuller Hausler, "Tata" era una mujer dedicada a su gente, a su pa¡s, Cuba, y su cafecito siempre "Estilo Cubano!" Ella anhelaba regresar a su tierra querida" -Madeleine Isabella. A visitation and rosary service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at Van Orsdel Funeral Chapel, 4600 SW 8th Street in Coral Gables, Florida, 33134. A funeral mass will be held Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at the Church of the Little Flower, 2711 Indian Mound Trail, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Interment to follow at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery, 11411 NW 25th St, Doral, FL 33172. In lieu of flowers, please consider a tax-deductible contribution in Jeanette's memory to the Parkinson's Foundation and to the Richard, Jeannette and Ellen Hausler Endowment Scholarship Fund at the University of Miami School of Law. Please send your contributions to the University of Miami School of Law, Office of Law Development and Alumni Relations, PO Box 248087, Miami, FL 33124-8087 or you may also donate to the Parkinson's Foundation at www.parkinson.org
Sobre Todo, Siempre Una Dama -Above all, Always A Dame.
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