Amanda Ros, the mother of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, has passed away today at the age 84 following a fight with Alzheimer's disease. Ros-Lehtinen, who represents a district that stretches from South Beach to Key West, is currently the longest serving female Republican member of the House, and has recently ascended to new powers as the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Amanda Adato was born in Cuba to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Turkey. At the age of 19 she married Enrique Ros, a catholic. Though Ros-Lehtinen notes that some felt the marriage wouldn't last because of their mixed faiths the union lasted 65 years up until her death.
"My greatest aspiration has not been to be a member of Congress or the chairman of an important committee, but to be the type of loving mother to my children that she was to me,''Ros-Lehtinen
said in a statement.
"My mother always had a clever Cuban saying for every situation and I was astounded that she could remember so many at the appropriate time."
Enrique Ros is a noted anti-Castro activist and author.
Ros-Lehtinen was born in Havana, but immigrated with her parents to Miami in her youth.
Ros-Lehtinen normally attends the State of the Union address and is known for hunting out an aisle seat, but this year stayed in Miami to care for her ailing mother. Though she did deliver the Republican response to the Speech in Spanish from a Miami studio.
The family is requesting that donations be made in her name to the Alzheimer's Association, Southeast Florida Chapter, P.O. Box 22594, West Palm Beach, FL 33416 in lieu of Flowers.
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