On the 28th of March 2018, Andrea Isora Camps was peacefully carried home to her Lord and Savior. Andrea was born in Havana, Cuba on January 22, 1929 where she met and married her one great love, Enrique M. Camps, M.D. In 1961, Andrea and Enrique seized an opportunity to flee Cuba joining their young children and close family members in the United States where they began their new life. For Andrea, life demanded fortitude and faith, and she never waivered in answering this call to establish a peaceful and faith-filled home for her family. Andrea received her undergraduate degree in Cuba and embraced the educational opportunities by continuing on to earn her Doctorate of Philosophy in Spanish American Literature by the age of 21. She held Professorship positions in the graduate schools at both the University of Houston and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
Faith and family were the pillars of Andrea’s life. She was an esteemed member of the St. Vincent de Paul’s Spanish-speaking community. For many years, she used her extraordinary skills as an orator and lector at Spanish Mass, and as a Eucharistic Minister. She opened her home to numerous church groups including the Spanish Young Adult Group and prayer meetings for devotional novenas throughout the years. She was devoted to The Blessed Mother of Our Lady of Fatima and to St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Like St. Thérèse, she lived by doing little things that made a difference to people that needed hope, charity, and an example of selflessness. As one of the original devotees of the celebration of Divine Mercy, she began this devotion in her home before coming to St. Vincent de Paul and supported its spread and celebration across the diocese before then, Pope John Paul II established Divine Mercy Sunday. Mrs. Camps and her husband, Dr. Enrique Camps, were also responsible for underwriting the investigation of one of the miracles needed for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska.
While Andrea lived the later parts of her life with the absence of her beloved husband and son, her life remained rich with all of her family nearby. As an avid learner herself, she enjoyed helping her grandsons, William and Wesley, with their Spanish homework and instilled in them an appreciation for the life laid before them. Her grandson, Charles, and daughter Maria, who lived with her for many years, were a constant source of companionship and a source of great happiness. Late in life she found immense joy in her great grandson Henry.
For many years she was served by Maria C. Martinez who lessened her burdens that age and declining health brought to bear. Her family will always be grateful for her service and devotion to Andrea.
Andrea is preceded in death by her husband Enrique, son Enrique J. Camps, M.D., her parents Andrea and Carlos Pineda, and sister Aida Fernandez, and brothers Modesto Pineda and Antonio Pineda.
Andrea is survived by her daughter Maria Georgina Camps, Maria Elena Herbst, and her husband Erik Herbst, grandchildren Charles Haston, H. William and Wesley Herbst, and great grandson Henry Walters-Haston. Andrea is also survived by her sister Felicitas Pineda, niece Mitzi Jimenez Delgado, and her husband Armando Delgado, great niece and nephew Mitzi Delgado Rivero and her husband Francisco Rivero and Armando Delgado, Jr.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 10:00 AM, Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 6800 Buffalo Speedway 77025. Following the Mass a reception will be held at her home 3324 Pittsburgh St. 77005.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Andrea Camps to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38015
