Vera Zabala
Born
Vera Cristina Zabala Vivada

(1941-03-06)March 6, 1941
Carolina, Puerto Rico
DiedNovember 16, 2019(2019-11-16) (aged 78)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupationphilanthropist
Years active1964-2019
Known forchair of the Roberto Clemente Foundation, founder of the Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente

Vera Zabala (March 6, 1941 – November 16, 2019) was a Puerto Rican philanthropist who was the head of the Roberto Clemente Foundation. She founded a sports education facility in Puerto Rico and was a Goodwill Ambassador for Major League Baseball. She was the wife of baseball player Roberto Clemente, who died in 1972, and the mother of sportscaster Roberto Clemente Jr. She went to the White House in 2003 to receive her husband's posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early life

Vera Cristina Zabala was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico in 1941. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, and worked as a bank teller as a young woman.[1]

Career

Clemente was chair of the Roberto Clemente Foundation, and a Goodwill Ambassador for Major League Baseball.[2][3] She and her three young sons[4] attended Roberto Clemente's posthumous induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.[5] In his memory, she established the Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente,[6] a sports education facility in Carolina, Puerto Rico, supported by grants, loans, and an annual telethon that she hosted.[7] "My main purpose was to do what he was planning to do," she said in a 1994 interview.[8] She also established a pediatric clinic in Nicaragua in his memory.[9]

She was active in choosing the recipients of the annual Roberto Clemente Award.[1] She was a familiar figure at charity events in Puerto Rico and in Pittsburgh, where her husband played baseball.[10][11] In 1982, she was the first woman to be named captain of a major league All-Star team, when she was captain of the National League team that year.[12]

On July 23, 2003, she went to the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her husband. The award was made by George W. Bush for her husband's charitable works.[13]

Personal life

Vera Zabala married Roberto Clemente in 1964. They had three sons, Roberto Jr., Luis, and Enrique, a few years before Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash in 1972. She died in 2019, aged 78 years, after a brief hospitalization in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[1][14][15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Seelye, Katharine Q. (2019-11-18). "Vera Clemente, Flame-Keeping Widow of Baseball's Roberto, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  2. ↑ "Vera Clemente". Roberto Clemente Foundation. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  3. ↑ de Jesus Ortiz, Jose (2019-11-18). "We Mourn our Baseball Queen, our Matriarch, Vera Clemente". La Vida Baseball. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  4. ↑ Richman, Milton (February 2, 1973). "'Hadn't Lived His Life', Laments Vera Clemente". The Boston Globe. p. 30. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Shock and Pain Gone for Vera Clemente". The Call-Leader. August 7, 1973. p. 6. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Cushman, Tom (February 24, 1976). "The Widow on Clemente Street". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 51. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Newhan, Ross (June 8, 2003). "Clemente's Dream Needs Fulfillment". Chicago Tribune. pp. 3–16. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Clemente's Widow Trying to Fulfill His Vision, and Hers". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 4, 1994. p. 29. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Ruck, Rob (May 4, 1989). "Clemente's Emotional Journey". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Berry, Adam; Sanchez, Jesse (November 18, 2019). "Vera Clemente, widow of Roberto, passes away". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  11. ↑ Perrotto, John (November 17, 2019). "Steve Blass remembers Vera Clemente for her charity work, continued love for Pittsburgh". TRIBLive. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  12. ↑ Smith, Claire (February 9, 1982). "Vera Clemente Breaks New Ground". Indiana Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "President Honors 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  14. ↑ "Vera Clemente, humanitarian and widow of Pirates legend Roberto Clemente, dies". Los Angeles Times. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  15. ↑ EndPlay (2019-11-02). "Vera Clemente, widow of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente in 'delicate health'". WSBTV. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
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