She was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 18, 1940, to Hermenegildo and Adelina Perez. In 1961, she left her native country for the USA, where she resided for the rest of her life as an exile of Castro's regime.
She became a high ranking banking employee and retired as an Assistant Treasurer of Barclays Bank, Miami Office in 1996.
Hilda loved to travel, read her newspaper and watch TV. Her last years were spent at home because of her illness.
She is survived by her two children, Ana V. Yanes and Albert G. Morales, their spouses Juan and Patricia and five grandchildren, John, Paul, Julien, Joseph, Isabelle and Alexandre, as well as a lot of cousins here and abroad. Her second husband Thomas Shafer preceded her in death in 1999.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the FSHD Society as Hilda suffered from this type of muscular dystrophy for many years.