Luisa "Piti" Gándara Menéndez (April 30, 1954 – June 14, 2023) was a Puerto Rican politician and wife of former

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus ( LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of ...

. As Acevedo Vilá's wife, Gándara served as First Lady from 2005 to 2009. In 2013, Gándara was elected by the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) to fill the vacancy left by Jorge Colberg Toro as representative

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

in the 29th House of Representatives.

Early years and studies

Luisa "Piti" Gándara was born on April 30, 1954. Her father was a public accountant and her mother was a florist. Gándara was the youngest of five siblings. She earned her high school degree from Academia Sagrado Corazón, studied at the Faculty of Pedagogy of

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

, and then completed a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Professional career

Gándara worked as a high school biology teacher and as a specialist in educational technology for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

for 17 years.

Political career

First Lady: 2005-2009

Following the tradition of previous Puerto Rico first ladies, Gándara refrained from holding a remunerative job while a resident of

La Fortaleza La Fortaleza ( English: "the fortress"), also known as the ''Palacio de Santa Catalina'' (Saint Catherine's Palace), is the official residence and workplace of the governor of Puerto Rico. Located in the historic quarter of Old San Juan in the ...

. As First Lady, she dedicated much of her attention to educational issues. She developed two reading programs: ''Lee y Sueña'' and ''Rincón de la Lectura''. The first donated 60,000 books to children, while the second sparked the creation of 50 reading centers around the island. The programs received national recognition, including an Innovations Award from the

Council of State Governments The Council of State Governments (CSG) is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization in the United States that serves all three branches of state government. Founded in 1933 by Colorado state senator Henry W. Toll, CSG is a region-based forum t ...

, and an award from the Ibero-American Council in Honor of Educational Quality. Active in her husband's successful congressional campaign in 2000 and his campaign for governor in 2004, Gándara was heavily involved in his reelection bid in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and supported him during a federal trial against him.

Representative aspirations: 2013

In March 2013, Gándara presented her candidacy to fill a vacant slot at the

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...

. She was elected during an internal election within the party on March 13, 2013.

Personal life and death

Gándara and Acevedo Vilá had two children: Gabriela, a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

graduate and producer in Los Angeles, California, and Juan Carlos, a

graduate and educator. In 2011, Gándara confirmed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She died on June 14, 2023, at the age of 69.

Awards and recognitions

State Innovations Award for a reading program that she developed as First Lady * Premio Iberoamericano Excelencia Academica 2008 (in

Guayaquil, Ecuador Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

) for promoting early childhood education

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandara, Luisa 1954 births 2023 deaths Deaths from breast cancer in Puerto Rico First ladies and gentlemen of Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Popular Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Puerto Rican women in politics University of Florida alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni 21st-century Puerto Rican women educators 21st-century Puerto Rican educators 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico