Obituary of Clara D. Barranco

Dr. Clara Durañona Urrutia de Barranco was born on April 20, 1934 in Havana, Cuba to Maria Teresa Urrutia Peralta and Miguel Angel Durañona. An only child, Clara learned from an early age to observe the world of her beloved parents, contributing to their family-owned pharmacy before entering primary school. Clara studied at the Columbus School in Havana before entering the prestigious Colegio Baldor in Vedado, where she began an enduring passion for learning and personal growth, nurtured by then professor of history, Marino Perez-Duran—and later, mentor and colleague. At Baldor, she also met Virginia de Miranda and Carmen Vazquez, who at the age of seven, launched a friendship that would traverse their university years, marriages, the birth of their children, exiles, and a lifetime of love and support. In 1950, at the age of sixteen, Clara met Eduardo Antonio Barranco on the doorsteps of her family home in Marianao—they began a courtship of eight years. In 1953, Clara entered the Universidad Pontificia Santo Tomas de Villanueva to study psychology and later specialize in Alfred Adler's school of psychology. She eventually joined the University’s Catholic Congregation of the Mystical Rose. Clara and Eduardo married in 1958 and had their eldest sons, Eduardo Javier and Miguel Ignacio, in Havana. In January 1961, they unexpectedly departed Cuba to Venezuela, after having fought the Castro regime with fellow brothers and sisters from the Congregation and the Agrupcación Católica Universitaria. In Caracas, they built a new life for their growing family. Their remaining five children, Luis Alberto, Maria Teresa, Ana Maria, Francisco Antonio and Elena Maria, were born and raised in Caracas. Clara was honored with a Doctorate in Psychology in the early 1960s and began a fifty year career that encompassed roles with the Venezuelan Ministry of Health, her own private practice, the founding of the Centro de Cambio y Crecimiento, and a range of advisory roles with some of the largest corporations in the country and later with Venezuelan presidents. In these ventures, she met Cecilia Viso, a young psychologist who would become her adopted daughter. Venezuela became her second homeland and one of her greatest loves for which she worked tirelessly to better. In 2000, after having touched thousands of lives in Venezuela, Clara closed her practice and moved to Miami, Florida to join the rest of her family, now having grown to include her beloved grandchildren. Clara continued her legacy of helping others, including through the founding of Youth for the Arts Forum—a non-profit organization aimed at bringing classical music to the community—and peaked her entrepreneurial adventures through the formation of D’Urrutia Goods in honor of her mother. By far, her greatest passion was her family, imparting on us all the joy of a life shared with those one loves most. Her annual family reunions, where she prepared 'sopitas' and hosted the grandchildren’s talent shows, will always be remembered. Clara’s legacy lives on in her greatest pride: her seven children, her ten grandchildren— Rebecca, Victoria, Clara, Luis, Erika, Isabel, Gabriel, Ariana, Javier, Julian—, and her two great grandchildren—Sophia and Mason. Eduardo, her husband of nearly 64 years, continues to honor her love of her family.