Lucy Nieves

Lucy Nieves
(born Maria Lucia Rajoy Batista)
Born: Havana, Cuba in September, 29, 1935, passed away on June 28, 2021, Burbank Ca.

Lucy had a love of life and was passionate about the arts. She loved performing in plays when she was younger, drew beautiful sketches and masterfully played the piano. Throughout her life she played the piano all the time and while growing up, even spent her childhood summers practicing. Lucy went to college and became a kindergarten teacher in Havana and spoke about how much she loved teaching the kids.
In a quirk of fate, Lucy met her husband Nestor in Cuba while visiting her grandmother Luisa at the hospital where he was a patient and she started to spend more time visiting him instead of her grandmother.
They fell in love and married November 5th 1960 in Havana, then, in 1962, had their first daughter, Ana. During the next few years the political environment became very volatile and the family applied for Visas to leave Cuba. Nestor's number was picked first(as exiting Cuba was done on a lottery system) and he went to Spain for a time, then on to settle in Los Angeles, working and learning the language. Lucy got her visa and went to Spain with Ana for 8 months and then on to Los Angeles. They were reunited 2 years later.

Lucy became a piano teacher and as her students grew in number each year she would hold a large piano recital at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City.

A devout Catholic, Lucy would bless you occasionally, for just about any reason.
If there was anything wrong with your life she knew which patron saint to pray to.
She prayed the rosary every day at 3pm.

Hobbies and interests were many…...
She had a love of organizing…..she would open any drawer in her house over and over.
Her love of shopping was strong: soaps, jewelry, clothes; up and down every aisle so as to not miss a thing!
She loved dressing stylishly throughout her life, even in later years her go to look was a white sweater with brown racing cap.
Lucy loved classical music and she often played the Cuban national anthem, La Cumparsita and other traditional Cuban songs on the piano.

Lucy had many close friends, special among them were Gladys, Nestor's sister's sister-in-law in Florida. While Nestor's sister and her husband divorced many years ago, Lucy and Gladys remained lifelong friends and considered themselves sisters. Other close friends included Margarita and Lilly, which Lucy spoke of often. She had a way of making friends, especially with her caregivers. She always knew everybody's name from drivers to janitors, where they were from and details about their families.

Etched on her casket is The Patron Saint of Cuba, La Virgen de La Caridad Del Cobre(Our Lady of Charity).
Lucy would always pray to her as she represented hope and dignity in difficult situations.

Lucy was preceded in death by her parents, Arcadio and Lucia, and Nestor, her husband of 59 years. She is survived by her two daughters, Ana and Beatrice; two son-in-laws Mark and Pat, and her four grandsons, Chris, William, John and Connor. She is also survived by her brother Art.

Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California.

Donations can be made to
St. Frances de Sales Catholic Church.
St. Francis de Sales
13360 Valley Heart Drive
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423