In The Spotlight: Meet Ada Diaz Kirby

Ada Diaz Kirby is our Spotlight member in this edition due in part to her perseverance growing up as a refugee from Cuba. She recently shared with EnCompass her story of how she fled Cuba as a young girl, turned her life’s struggles into success and prosperity, and the importance and value of her AAA membership.

Turmoil in Cuba

Ada was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and lived through a revolution where children were being brainwashed, indoctrinated, and conscripted into a brutal Communist regime. Ada’s parents had to make an extremely difficult decision: Keep their kids in Cuba to live a life of cruelty and misery, or send them away to a safe haven with the possibility of never seeing them again. To give their children the best life possible, Ada’s parents chose the latter.

Ada arrived in the United States in mid-October, 1961 (six months after the Bay of Pigs invasion), at the age of 11. Her parents had arranged to send Ada and her younger brother to a refugee camp in Miami, Fla., through the Peter Pan program. Here, children could be kept safe, while the rest of the family waited for Communism in Cuba to “blow over.”

When it didn’t, the authorities concluded that Ada and her brother wouldn’t be reunited with her family, and moved them to an orphanage in Pueblo, Colo. Following unsuccessful placements in two foster homes, a social worker told Ada she was “unadaptable.” Determined to prove the social worker wrong, Ada took every odd job she could find to support herself, earned a high school diploma, and developed what she calls a “rejection-resistant personality” along the way.

Ada was just one of the 14,000 unaccompanied children who fled Cuba between late 1960 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Ten years passed before Ada and her younger brother were reunited with their mother, and an additional two years before they saw their father.

Ada (left) and her younger brother, Hector (right), and their mother, Hilda, in Cuba. Courtesy of Ada Diaz Kirby

Achievement in Colorado

Ada endured many emotional, physical, and mental abuses during her childhood, yet she graduated with honors with a degree in Business Administration from Regis University, where she later served as a Regent. As an advocate of higher education, Ada has also served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of Northern Colorado.

In her professional life, Ada became an executive for US West Advanced Technologies, where Hispanic Business magazine named her one of the “Top Latinas in American Corporations.” Perhaps her biggest achievement is that she founded CommTech International, Inc., where she served as president and CEO. This nationally recognized Denver-based company created the world’s largest computer-based training program, and customized learning programs for corporations and government entities. “I’ve had to overcome a difficult path to becoming a high-ranking woman in Corporate America and a recognized entrepreneur in the high-tech industry,” says Ada.

Life with AAA

Today, Ada helps her husband, Gene, manage a ranch in southern Colorado, where they spend many hours on the road–mostly in isolated areas. “Having AAA as a partner who will be there if anything goes wrong gives us huge peace of mind we can’t do without,” says Ada.

Like many members, Gene and Ada have primarily used their AAA membership for the roadside assistance benefits. However, they recently took advantage of AAA Colorado’s car-buying service, AutoSource, to purchase a brand-new truck for those long hauls back down to the ranch. Ada raved about how easy the entire process was, and that “AAA was able to get us top dollar for Gene’s old truck.”

Thank you, Ada, for sharing your inspiring story of a true American dream, never giving up, and making AAA a part of your journey!

Share your thoughts

If Ada’s story inspired you, or if you have a story you’d like to share with us, let us know at AAAstories@colorado.aaa.com.