Adrian Suarez Avila/ News Director
A memorial event will be held to honor the memory of a University staff member who passed away on Friday, Feb. 27.
A memorandum was sent by Trudy Fernandez, director of Human Resources relations, to University faculty and staff on March 1 to inform them of the event.
Analise Dlugasch, who commenced her career at the University in August 2010 working as a student assistant, earned her master’s degree from the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
“Analise’s sweet nature and generous heart touched all who knew her, and she will be dearly missed,” read Fernandez’s email.
According to Jennifer Fernandez, a long-time friend of Analise, in early November of last year, while having dinner with a friend, Analise passed out shortly after experiencing a choking fit.
Having suffered cardiac arrest, Analise was later transferred to Baptist Health South Florida, where she spent some time in a medically-induced coma. She passed away after suffering complications in late February.
“[Analise] touched a lot of lives in a lot of different ways,” said Jennifer.
In the memorandum, it is mentioned that Dlugasch is survived by her mother and father, Lucie and Philip Dlugasch, a clinical associate professor in the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and a doctoral student at the University, respectively.
She is also survived by her sisters Lauren and Nicole, and by extended family members and friends.
A viewing was held on Sunday, March 1, in Bernardo Garcia Funeral Homes in Miami, FL, along with a mass service on Monday, March 2 in Saint John Neumann Catholic Church.
A memorial, titled, “Her Bright Light,” is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 7 in the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in the University, located on 10975 SW 17 Street, Miami, FL.
The memorial event will feature a silent auction, in which restaurant gift certificates will be offered alongside a sculpture by artist Romero Britto and other items, according to Jennifer.
The memorial is sponsored by the Unbridled Spirit Society, an organization that seeks to provide the means of assistance to families and individuals through equine association, according to the organization’s web page.
According to Jennifer, a portion of the proceeds will go toward educating restaurant personnel how to be better prepared to handle choking and other emergency situations.
The event will last from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
According to the memorandum, the Dlugasch family has requested that, in place of flowers, donations be submitted on behalf of Analise to www.unbridledspiritsociety.org. Standard donations are set at $75.
Those interested in more information should contact Trudy Fernandez at 305-348-0101.
“No matter what room she walked into, she lit it up,” Jennifer said.
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