Hilda Fuller Bridges

BRIDGES, Hilda Fuller, 78, passed from this realm on June 28, 2009 at St. Joseph Baptist Hospital in Tampa, Florida, several days following a coronary bypass. Her sudden death came as a great shock to all those who knew and loved her, as she had seemed to be recovering so well. The oldest child of Harold and Rose Fuller, she was born on May 25, 1931 in Birmingham, Alabama. As a young girl, her family moved to Tampa, where she was raised. She was a graduate of Jefferson High School. A loving and devoted mother to her three girls, Christine, Cailin and Cyndee, she tucked them in each evening with bedtime stories and songs. She loved music and her home was often filled with the sound of her lovely singing voice as she did her housework. Even as she was a full-time university student, there were hot breakfasts before school, and the family gathered around a home-cooked meal in the evenings. An animal lover, she passed that on to her children through their many pets; cats, dogs, birds, snakes, mice, hamsters, turtles and fish, and usually many at the same time. She loved having fun with her girls, often ending ordinary errands with a shared treat or planning parties to celebrate their special milestones, and family summer vacations at a lake. There are many treasured photos and films of her girls enthusiastically hunting the elusive Easter eggs and dressed for church in Easter finery. She especially loved Christmas, and went to great lengths to make every one a magical holiday memory. She instilled in her girls a powerful love of family, that has drawn them even closer together as adults, working together and supporting one another through good times and bad – which she also continued to do until the day she passed. She was a highly educated woman, holding a Bachelors degree in early childhood education, with a Masters degree in varying exceptionalities, as well as 57 hours towards a doctorate at the University of South Florida. A very beautiful young woman, Hilda once worked as a sunglasses model for Bausch and Lomb. She was quick-witted, fun loving and vivacious. Regulars at the private club once known as The Gate on Busch Boulevard will remember her for her love of dancing, and The Happy Hildy; a drink named in her honor. She loved to travel, sharing many trips to destinations in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe, even Morocco, often with one or more of her daughters. She shared a Caribbean cruise with her daughter Chris to get a good view of Haley's Comet, a road trip to New Orleans with Cailin, and climbed the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan with all of her girls and her granddaughter Krista. She longed to be strong enough to do the same with her youngest granddaughter, Erica. Above all, Hilda dedicated her life to children – both her own and the thousands whose lives she enriched as a 27-year educator with the Hillsborough County school system. To be near her daughters, she began her career in the classroom at Chamberlain High School where they were students. Later she taught at Blake Junior High, and retired from a position as Behavior Management Specialist at the Hillsborough Exceptional Center. Her career was dedicated to teaching children with physical, emotional and intellectual challenges to learn to overcome and achieve. She developed her own reading program and used it to teach young, challenged adults who had never been able to read, often bringing their reading skills up 7 or 8 grade levels in a single year. The many former students who kept in touch with her over the years were a measure of her success as a teacher. In her retirement, she often spoke with pride of her accomplishments as a teacher, stating she would be right back in the classroom if her health would allow. Even in her last days at the hospital, Hilda expressed her desire to be holding and comforting sick babies instead of just sitting around in her room. She was a tireless nurturer, and the world is a poorer place for her loss. Hilda was predeceased by her first child, Brenda Bridges, who passed only hours after birth, and her youngest child Cynthia Ann Bridges, who passed just two years ago. Although divorced for 27 years before his passing, she remained friends with, and in 2003 mourned the passing of her former husband, H. T. Bridges, Captain on the Tampa Fire Department. She is survived by her brother, Harold Fuller of Cocoa Beach, FL; her daughters Christine Bridges Roys with her husband Brian Roys of Tampa; Cailin Callahan Grant and her husband, Stuart Grant of Deer Lodge, TN; her granddaughters, Krista Nevaeh and Erica Richardson, her great grandsons, Andre Figueroa and Gabriel Aponte, and her best friend, Jean Fusilier, all of Tampa, as well as many, many more friends and family who knew and loved her. Although we are all deeply saddened by her loss, we are comforted by the joyous blessing of having had such a wonderful woman as our sister, mother, grandmother, teacher and dear friend. A memorial Mass will be said in Hilda's honor on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 1:00 P.M., Sacred Heart Church, 509 N. Florida Ave., in downtown Tampa. Following the service, all who knew and loved her are invited to pay tribute with stories and celebrate the life of this remarkable woman at the home of Brian and Chris Roys, 3118 Cocos Road, Tampa, FL.