Magaly (Vega) Lara, age 82, of Bradford, MA, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, at Penacook Place in Haverhill, MA. She was the wife of the late Gelasio “Alberto” Lara.
The daughter of the late Benito Vega and Narcisa Garcia, Magaly was born and raised in Havana, Cuba as the youngest of nine children. In 1969 the age of 32, following a four-year wait for a travel visa, she and Alberto left Cuba aboard Freedom Flight to start a new life in the United States. They settled briefly in Queens, NY, and then made their home in the Merrimack Valley, residing for many years in Lawrence, Methuen, and Haverhill. In 1994, they completed their journey and became U.S. citizens.
Magaly was employed for twenty-three years as a circuit board assembler for the former AT&T/Western Electric Merrimack Valley Works (later becoming Lucent Technologies and Lucent-Alcatel.) She worked on components for devices ranging from “princess” telephones to missile defense systems before she retired in 2000.
In her later years, Magaly enjoyed puzzles, board games, collecting elephant figurines, and spending time with large extended family, many of whom had also emigrated from Cuba.
Magaly was predeceased by her husband, Alberto; her sisters: Eulalia Alvarez and Nereida Guzman; and brothers: Rolando Vega, Orlando Vega, Emilio Justo Vega, Carmita Vega, Jesus Vega, and Luis Vega.
She is survived by her daughter, Rita Lara and her husband Daniel Kidorf of Haverhill; son, Albert Lara and his wife Diane Ifkovic of Haddam, CT; two grandsons: Alexander and Matthew Lara also of Haddam, CT; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.
Due to the current COVID-19 situation, services for Magaly will be held in private at this time. With the assistance of Cataudella Funeral Home in Methuen, family and friends will respectfully be invited to join her family at a memorial mass celebrating her life at a later time when restrictions are lifted.