Aura R. Hulme

Aura Raspaldo Hulme, affectionately known as Cuqui (pronounced Cookie), passed away peacefully at home in the company of family on April 15, 2020. Cuqui resided in Pittsburgh, PA. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Cuqui came to Pittsburgh in 1946 to attend Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) and Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) where she studied chemistry and earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. While still in graduate school, Cuqui met her future husband Skip Hulme on a blind date. Cuqui and Skip married on January 24, 1953 in Aguirre, Puerto Rico and settled in Pittsburgh where they raised three children. Cuqui's talents were many and varied. She was an accomplished pianist with a great love of music that she passed on to her children. Gardening, sewing and decoupage served as creative outlets for Cuqui while her children were young. In time, she learned to play golf and earned herself a respectable handicap. As a member of Fox Chapel Golf Club and Rolling Rock Club in the Pittsburgh area as well as Bears Paw Country Club in Naples, Florida, where she lived part time from 1986 until 2014, Cuqui built lasting friendships. She traveled the world with her husband until his untimely death in 1985, and later with friends. Throughout her adult life and up until the time of her passing, she was a voracious reader and formidable bridge player, joining friends for regular sessions at the Twentieth Century Club. Cuqui was also very active and committed to many causes, serving on the board of directors for the Shadyside Hospital Foundation, providing funding for the Hulme Award at Chatham University, and contributing as a longtime congregant at Shadyside Presbyterian Church. Cuqui loved animals, especially dogs and bunnies. She was a compassionate woman who valued family and friendships above all else. She took both pride and joy in the accomplishments of her three children: Milton G. "Skip" Hulme, III (Kathy), Charles A. Hulme and Leslie Pottow (Frank); their children, Lauren Lowell (Jeff); Kirsten Thompson (Chris), Madlen Brauner (Noah), and Geoffrey, Zoe, Charlie and Emma Pottow; and five great grandchildren, Logan and Ted Lowell, Griffin and Bennett Thompson, and Barbara Brauner. She genuinely loved her caregivers, especially Georgette and Helen whom she referred to as "my girls." In death, Cuqui reunites with her husband Milton G. Hulme, Jr. (Skip), her parents Pedro and Rosario Navas Raspaldo, and her brother Carlos Raspaldo. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in Cuqui's memory may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (https://themmrf.org/), Samaritan's Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) or a charity of the donor's choice.

Aura R. Hulme

August 28, 1929 - April 15, 2020