Gilda Esther "Tersi" Bendiburg

Gilda Esther "Tersi" Bendiburg

(1953 - 2024)

Our beloved Gilda Esther "Tersi" Bendiburg of Stone Mountain, Georgia, passed peacefully, on December 6th, 2024, surrounded by her adoring family. Tersi was born in Havana, Cuba on September 11, 1953. Although we do not know the weather in Havana that day, we assume--given her nature--that it was sunny and warm. She was the first-born daughter of Gilda Esther Ponz Agra and Carlos Agra, and doted granddaughter of Carmen Graciela (Chela) Ponz Cabrera and Ofelia Mendoza.

She was seven years old at the time of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the violence and upheaval of that time affected her deeply as a child. Four years later, her family--which now included a younger sister, Carmen Ofelia "Coqui,"--left Cuba and entered the U.S. in 1964, under J.F.K's Cuban Refugee Act. They were sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga.

With memories and stories that spoke of her unshakable love for her first homeland, she grew to love her new country equally and deeply. Tersi graduated from Decatur High School, after which she attended Mercer University in Atlanta. She married Eugenio Bendiburg June 29, 1974. They were overjoyed at the arrival of their sons, Benjamin Eugenio in 1981, and Jordan Manuel in 1984. They were ever the light of her life.

Tersi loved children and is remembered with great affection by her "Rayitos del Sol," the Sunday School kindergarteners she called her "Little Sunbeams." The fun aunt, she was the one to make summer vacations a time for exploration and occasional mischief. She played the piano by ear, could make Spanish castanets sing, and was an inspired Cuban cook. Her garden was her other great love, and she often said that she could always find peace, happiness, and purpose in a handful of dirt.

She will be best remembered by many for her marvelous stories. A professional storyteller, she brought both family stories and traditional Latin American folktales to school children across the U.S. These children rightly loved her spirited and hilarious re-tellings of classic tales and were introduced to Latin culture through her work.

To those closest to her, Tersi will be remembered as a loving sibling, an affectionate "Tia," a devoted mother and doting grandmother. To those who were fortunate enough to know her well, she was the most loyal of friends. And to anyone who casually knew her, she was a person who exuded joy and an unfaltering love of life.

Tersi was predeceased by her father, Carlos Agra (2017), and her mother, Esther "Tete" Ponz Agra (2024). She is survived by her sons, Benjamin Bendiburg (Andrea) and Jordan Bendiburg (Whitney); her sister Carmen Deedy McCutcheon (John); her half-brother, Carlos Agra, Jr. (Cora); her grandchildren, Dom and Avery; her great-nieces and nephew, Ruby, Samuel, Grace, and Esther (Essie); her nieces, Katie Deedy Robison (William), Erin Grace Deedy (Mihkel), Lauren Deedy Noonan (Mark); and her aunt, Elva Ponz Otero (Antonio). Tersi leaves behind the poet Harwood's "piercing absence." She will always be a part of our family's best stories.