She was born to Dr. Antonio and Leonor Rubio in Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1958. Her father, Antonio, was a respected physician in the region and Leonor’s family were prominent entrepreneurs, owning the large fertilizer factory, and landowners in the community, known for their service to the people of the region.
At the age of two, the youngest and only girl of five children, Ana and her family were forced to escape the evils being inflicted upon their island home by Castro’s communist “revolution”. After spending 48 days in Kingston, Jamaica, most of the family made it to Miami. After a few months, the family made their way to Staunton, Virginia, where the children, raised in the tropics, saw 10 inches of snow upon their arrival.
Following the growing opportunities for Ana’s father, the family moved from Staunton to Charlottesville, Virginia where Dr. Rubio studied psychiatry at UVA, then to Bolivar, Tennessee and finally to Meridian, Mississippi. In her travels, Ana became bilingual in both Spanish and Southern.
After graduating from Lamar School, Ana was accepted at Ole Miss where she joined the Delta Gamma sorority. From there, and unsurprisingly to any who knew her, she went on to pursue a career in fashion that brought her to Atlanta to attend Bauder Fashion College, attaining a degree in Fashion Merchandising. At Bauder, she met her lifelong friend and sister, Nancy Chivington.
In 1979, she was introduced through mutual friends to Rod Sterling. After dating for a little over a year and after seeking permission from Ana’s father, Rod asked Ana to marry him, and in April 1982, they wed on an uncharacteristically cloudy day in Meridian. Magically, as Ana walked down the aisle, beams of sunlight poured through the stained glass windows of the First Christian Church.
The marriage was a package deal, as Rod had a young son, Gabriel. He was 11 at the time of their marriage and served as Best Man in the ceremony. Ana took to the job of Gabriel’s step-mother quickly. She considered it one of her most important roles in life. Gabriel will be forever grateful to her.
Rod and Ana were a dynamic couple, both socially and in business. As Rod continued to rise and grow in his industry, Ana was always an important part of that. Through her support, and, importantly, at events and on business trips, Ana ensured Rod’s employees and customers were all made to know that they were important. Without Ana, Rod would not have succeeded in business the way he did.
In a league of her own, Ana had an extremely successful career as a realtor in Metro Atlanta for over three decades with Harry Norman Realtors. She never turned down an opportunity. From clients who wanted to rent for a short time to those who wanted to buy a multi-million dollar mansion, she treated each of them equally and with respect. She was the queen of repeat business, and even as she was battling cancer, she still made Agent of the Month again. She negotiated her final contract just hours before she passed. Rod would be so proud.
She worked hard, and yet she played hard too. Ana was the life of the party and was always the one that pushed for family vacations and events. Ana and Rod hosted several weddings at their home, and it was a central gathering place for friends and family over the years. Ana was thankful when her mother, Leonor, came and lived with them for several years and became part of the larger group that Ana and Rod gathered around them.
Ana was widowed in 2022 after 40 wonderful years together with Rod. She was also pre-deceased by her parents, and her brother Leon. She is survived by her son Gabriel and his wife Caroline, her brothers Antonio Rubio and his wife Gildette, Enrique Rubio and his wife Olga, along with her nieces Noel Navoa, her husband Eric and their daughter Sophia, Freda Romo and her husband Octavio, Ana’s dog Tucker, and countless loving friends who have become family. Ana’s love of life, laughter, and enthusiasm will be dearly missed by so many.
There will be a visitation on Thursday, September 26 at the H.M. Patterson-Arlington Chapel at 173 Allen Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30328 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The church service will be held on Friday, September 27, at 2:00pm at the Church of the Redeemer at 5185 Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30342. From the service we will proceed to Arlington Memorial Park at 201 Mount Vernon Highway, NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328 for the graveside burial at 3:30pm.
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