Ofelia Zapata Heath was born on October 20, 1927 in Medellin, Colombia, and died peaceably in her sleep on October 31, 2018, at Mitchell Hollingsworth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Florence 11 days after her 91st birthday.
She survived her American husband of 63 years, Eugene R. Heath of Portsmouth, Ohio, by barely over two months. Ofelia’s hard wrought education allowed her to be one of her South American city’s first (and rare, for that time) completely bilingual secretaries, a skill that eventually led her to meet her husband.
Ofelia and Eugene Heath lived most of their married lives in South and Central America, where they raised and are survived by three married daughters, Cynthia Ann Williams (Keith) of Richmond, Texas, Beatrice Heath Tomlinson (Robert) of Cherokee and Mary Heath McDeavitt (James) of Houston, Texas. They are also survived by six grandchildren, Sarita Williams (Atlanta, Georgia), Richard Williams (Houston, Texas), Max Williams (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), Kathleen McDeavitt Cillo (Houston, Texas), Grace McDeavitt Jorden (Orlando, Florida) and Silvia Ruth Tomlinson (Cherokee).
There will be a memorial service at the joint burial of Mr. and Mrs. Heath’s ashes at a future date in the Heath family cemetery plot north of Portsmouth, Ohio.
The family of Mrs. Ofelia Heath is especially grateful to the more than attentive and gracious care that was offered to Ofelia during her last, and very difficult, month and half of life at Mitchell Hollingsworth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Florence. May Our Lord credit it to all of them unto righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
