José Serret Borda, known as Pepe Serret Borda (

Vallfogona de Balaguer Vallfogona de Balaguer is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated a ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

, June 17, 1941 -

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, January 25, 1993), was a Spanish economist and entrepreneur. He served as the director of various companies in the food sector, was involved in the promotion of

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

's schools, and managed some agricultural schools (

EFA EFA may refer to: England Football Association Arts * European Film Academy, a trade organisation * European Film Awards, organized by the European Film Academy * European Festivals Association, an arts festival organisation Commerce * Electri ...

Background and education

Academic background

He pursued his initial studies at the school in Vallfogona de Balaguer (Lleida) and continued them at the Brothers of La Salle school in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...

. In

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ' ...

, he pursued studies in Industrial Technical Engineering, complementing his academic background with a master's degree from

Esade Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is a prestigious international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, Esade Business School and Esade Law School, as well ...

and the Senior Management Program (PADE) at

IESE IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958 in Barcelona where its main campus is located,López, T. & Pampliega, J“La fundación del IESE (1956–1958)” Universidad de Navarra, Biblioteca ...

(

Professional trajectory

His professional career began at the companies Agut S.A. (Terrassa) and Samí (

Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebre. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city i ...

). In 1969, he joined Granja Castelló (Mollerusa), and later was appointed director of the factory at Lecherías del Noroeste S.A (LENOSA) in León, where he worked for nine years. In 1977, he returned to Mollerussa as the Managing Director of Leche el Castillo, a position he held until 1991. On January 1, 1992, he joined

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

AEPA and took on the role of Managing Director of Productos del Café S.A. (

). Parallel to his professional work, in 1979 he became part of the founding group of the Arabell school, which at that time belonged to

's Fomento de Centros de Enseñanza. He was actively involved in launching the educational institution, which began its journey (September 15, 1979) provisionally in

Raimat Raimat (older spelling Raïmat) is a locality in the municipality of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain), 14 km away from the main town. Along with Sucs, its official status is that of a ''decentralised municipal entity'', as some semi-urban wards attac ...

, an elegant modernist building that had been used for years as the school for girls in the town. The school moved to its permanent location on October 2, 1980, on the road from Lleida to Huesca.

Personal life

In 1965, he married Roser Simó Cima, with whom he had eleven children: María de los Ángeles, María del Carmen, Roser, Jaime, Toni, Josep, Jordi, Kiko, Rafa, Mariona, and Joan. In May 1980, he applied for admission to

as a

Supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more commonl ...

member. Upon his passing, his friends and colleagues compiled about a hundred tributes in a book titled "Pepe Serret: Recuerdos de sus amigos" (Pepe Serret: Memories from his friends). Years later, the first biography of Pepe Serret would be published: "Himno a la vida, 1ª ed., 2000. Biografía del empresario Josep Serret Borda (1941-1993)" (Hymn to Life, 1st ed., 2000. Biography of the businessman Josep Serret Borda (1941-1993)). He died in a traffic accident on January 25, 1993, while returning from Madrid and heading to a parent meeting at his children's school.

Official bibliographies

* Coverdale, John F, "Encounters: Finding God in All Walks of Life", Scepter, 2023, 1st edition, 187-209 pp. * Rico Romero, Octavio - Xandri, Juan (eds.), "Pepe Serret: Recuerdos de sus amigos" (Pepe Serret: Memories from his Friends). Lleida, 1994, 1st edition, 371 pp. * Raventós Artés, Lluís, "Himne a la vida: Una semblança de Josep Serret" (Hymn to Life: A Portrait of Josep Serret). Terrassa, Albada, 1998, 1st edition, 112 pp. * Raventós Artés, Lluís, "Pepe Serret: Himno a la Vida" (Pepe Serret: Hymn to Life). Madrid, Palabra, 2000, 1st Spanish edition, 122 pp. (2nd edition, 2000).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serret Borda, Pepe 1941 births 1993 deaths Opus Dei members University of Navarra alumni People from Lleida Spanish businesspeople Nestlé people