Assumpció Fornaguera, a member of the CSP, passed away a month ago after a long illness. From here, we want to remember her and to give thanks to God for her life.
María Assumpció Fornaguera Martí, who was known by family and friends as “Assun,” passed away peacefully at her family home in Badalona, Spain, on Saturday, January 20, 2024. She was 70 years old. Assun was a member of the Community of Saint Paul since its foundation in 2008. Before, she had been a member of the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle based in Turkana, Kenya.
Born on June 22, 1953 in Badalona, Assun was the eldest of four siblings. Upon graduating from University of Barcelona with a license and several specialties in nursing, she worked in the Clínica del Carme and Can Ruti Hospital in Badalona. She then moved to Kenya where, after some preparations in Nairobi, she settled in Turkana (near the border with Ethiopia and Sudan). Together with another nurse from Spain, Assun helped to set up a health program with dispensaries and mobile clinics in the vast semi-arid region inhabited mostly by nomadic shepherds that had no other medical services available.
She lived and worked in Kenya for 15 years as a lay missionary, serving especially the nomadic Turkana people. During her time there, on two separate occasions Assun’s path was crossed by a Turkana baby who did not have any indefinable family, first a boy, and then years later, a girl. She took them in and would formally adopt them both, becoming her son Paul and daughter María. Assun had a caregiver’s heart and an intense tenacity that did not let much get in the way of doing what she considered to be right.
In 2003, Assun moved to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and took over two mother and child care centers in an impoverished part of the city. She lived and worked in Bolivia until her cancer diagnosis in 2016, when she moved back to Badalona to be able to focus on her treatments. In her typical tenacious fashion, she faced the diagnosis and years of treatment with serenity and discipline. Even through the difficulties of her treatment, she made the extra effort to live life to the fullest that she could, which included a swim in her beloved Mediterranean Sea whenever possible, and on special occasions a glass of champagne with those she loved.
At the end of last year, when she was informed that her treatment would be stopped and she would be provided palliative care at home, she received the news with her characteristic serenity, hope and faith. While being one of the first to clarify that she was far from perfect, Assun retained her generously-intense and motherly heart through the struggles of her pain and terminal illness. She remained exacting regarding the details around the wellbeing and joy of those around her. This included speaking openly about her process, physically and spiritually, to make sure that her loved ones knew she was at peace. In doing so, she gave us a great gift; in the words of a fellow CSP member, “she prepared us well for her death.”
Assun is survived by her son Pau and daughter María, her brother Joan, and sisters Àngels and Montse. She was preceded in death by her parents Pere and Engràcia.
In her last moments, she let those around her know that she was serene and grateful for all that she had lived: “From God I came, and back to God I go”, she said.
