There are a thousand parts and people that make the REGJB run. This blog has endeavored to be about the people who make up the REGJB and their lives, and sadly, their deaths. Last week one of the people who made the REGJB run and who touched the lives of countless lawyers, defendants and judges passed away. Her name was Anna Pineda and she worked for the Advocate Program. One of the people who knew her best attended her funeral Thursday night and sent us an email which we post in its entirety. Over the years we have written too many of these, but this is the best we have read. We are endeavoring to obtain permission to post the author's name.
UPDATE: Judge Jacqueline Woodward wrote the below remembrance of her friend.
If you are lucky, there are people in your life that make you feel better just being around them.
Anna Pineda was the smile in the courthouse that has been a constant for the past 25 years.
With her kindness and unbelievable patience, she guided thousands of defendants through
a maze of probationary requirements. She would explain over and over again to our
frustrated, angry and difficult clients the particulars of their program.
Anna perfected the lost art of listening.
Anna just had a way of guiding people to finding a solution to make the overwhelming
become doable. The courthouse will miss the woman who answered all her emails
within an hour, and who taught a myriad of young lawyers the meaning of the endless
maze of acronyms like PTD BOT ADI DUI BIP SCRAM.
Anna helped many new ASAs through their first VOP. She showed new PDs how to
avoid a VOP, and she taught County Court judges how to re-enroll a defendant into
Advocate for a second chance. She breathed life into second chances.
She loved her job and it showed. Anna was loved in our courthouse by all those who
knew her.
Anna was most importantly a mother who ran from the courthouse to Mast academy to
watch her daughters in a play or in sports. She was a wife who had a blast in a mud-run
just before she got sick, and Anna was so proud of her youngest child who blessed her and
her husband later in life. She was the bedrock of her family and she loved them completely.
Anna was also my friend from the days I started as a public defender, and I will miss
getting shushed in 5-2 for whispering in court or chatting too loudly in the jury room of 4-10.
I will miss her amazing smile and her stories of life, love and family.
She loved the Everglades, and vacations and dressing up and arts and crafts,
and we both shared a love of our favorite holiday- Halloween.
Anna loved her kids and her husband and she was so much fun to be around. She always
had a smile on her face, no matter how difficult the day went or no matter how
difficult the Advocate client was. I just don't know how she had the time to do it all!
The courthouse regulars will miss those moments when Ana caught their eye across a busy
courtroom with her warm and genuine smile. Anna's smile made a bad day good.
She made my life better and there is a hole in my heart.
Anna, thank you for making all of our lives better, God speed my friend.
An earlier edition misspelled Anna Pineda's name. The error was ours and we apologize to Anna's family.
15 comments:
What a beautiful tribute--one good person can make a difference. Bless you Ana.
I had no idea. Ana was a gem of a human being. She was helpful to anyone and everyone. My deepest condolences to her family on this heartbreaking loss. Our community is much dimmer without her.
What a great tribute to a wonderful woman who spent her life helping others. May the good lord bless and keep her children and husband and may their hearts always be filled with her memory.
In case you ever wondered, this is why we have this blog. To do wonderful things like this. I so hope someone tells Anna's family about the wonderful tribute written by her friend Jackie Woodward and that she was lovingly remembered by those she worked with.
Please make sure that occurs Rumpole. We actually depend on you a lot for these things.
I am deeply saddened by this news. Anna was an absolute delight to work with. She made everything in the bureaucracy run a little more smoothly, and made it miles more bearable. Regardless of the form of PTD, Anna was almost always my first call for help on a case as an ASA. Even after I was no longer handling many PTD eligible cases, her personal number remained in my phone for creative solutions. We speak often of the lawyers and judges of REGB; Anna is one of the biggest unsung heroes who helped defense attorneys, prosecutors, clerks, and judges alike. We have lost an angel. Rest well, Anna.
Here's a small hit tip to an REG personality that we lost, less tragically.
Remember "Miami Mike"? The security guard who sat at the exit doors? Grandson to the (legendary in Miami) Scull Sisters? Mike would learn lawyer's names, often say hi, and if you struck up a conversation with him, he'd tell you about his daily plans to get photographed with some visiting celeb. He has 1000s of pics with celebs, all on his Instagram. He's been photographed with everyone, from Presidents to D-listers, and he's proud of all of them. He'd tell you, "Yeah there's a thing in Broward tonight, gonna meet this star of the 1980s sitcom 'Alf'", etc.
Anyway, Mike got fired for coming late or something. A loss, because I bet you cannot name one of the exit-door security guards now, nor do they know you. Mike knew you. Mike was Miami color and REG family.
Wish he'd get his job back.
Yuo,
Anna was one of the kindest people in the world. I went to the funeral today. I think there were about 150 people there.
RIP my dear friend.
Mike Catalano
Anna was a gem. Kind, courteous, responsive. A lovely soul, inside and out. The REGJB, and community, are a lesser place without her.
F*ck cancer.
Anna was indeed a Gem. I met her when I was young and inexperienced. She never talked down to me, no matter how many dumb questions I had. She was kind and patient and over the years as I got a little more knowledgeable she was always there to help with the difficult cases. I am so deeply saddened by her untimely death. I will miss her.
Anna was very special. No matter how stupid a client could be, Anna would treat that person like he or she was her own child. How horrible to have her gone so soon.
touching tribute to a woman whose final ledger clearly states that she made this world a better place for her having been in it. can i say the same thing for myself? can i say it about you?
Thank you for sharing this. It's moments like this that make me appreciate this blog. Anna will be missed, she was a wonderful person who helped many people.
Overcome by this tribute. Anna was the best of us at Advocate Program. She absolutely loved being at REGJB and treasured the bonds made with judges, prosecutors defense attorneys, clerks . . . Most of all she loved making a difference in the lives of our clients. As important she was to County Court, the void left at AP has been great. Anna was all the above and more to her staff and to our organization. We feel her loss deeply and will never forget her impact. I miss her every day and pray that she is in peace. On behalf of all our staff and her family, thank you for recognizing this amazing soul.
Isabel Perez-Morina
Thank you Judge Jacqueline Woodward for your beautiful and touching words, and thank you to all that wrote such nice things about my wife, Anna Pineda. She clearly touched the lives of so many people and she was indeed loved by so many. From myself and my kids, thank you for sharing your beautiful memories. — Edwin Pineda.
A beautiful tribute to Anna's imprint on our lives. May her family find peace in the love we share for her.
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