José Serret Borda, known as Pepe Serret Borda (

Vallfogona de Balaguer Vallfogona de Balaguer () is a municipality in the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Noguera (comarca), Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of . Economy is based on agriculture, with, in particular, the c ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

, June 17, 1941 -

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, January 25, 1993), was a Spanish economist and entrepreneur. He served as the director of various companies in the food sector, was involved in the promotion of

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

's schools, and managed some agricultural schools ( EFA).

Background and education

Academic background

He pursued his initial studies at the school in Vallfogona de Balaguer (Lleida) and continued them at the Brothers of La Salle school in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

. In

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

, he pursued studies in Industrial Technical Engineering, complementing his academic background with a master's degree from

Esade Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is an international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, ESADE Business School, Esade Business School and ESADE Law Sch ...

and the Senior Management Program (PADE) at

IESE IESE Business School is the Catholic graduate business school of the University of Navarra. It was established in Barcelona in 1958 by Opus Dei. From 1963, in collaboration with Harvard Business School, it offers a two-year Master of Business Adm ...

(

Professional trajectory

His professional career began at the companies Agut S.A. (Terrassa) and Samí (

Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebro. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city ...

). In 1969, he joined Granja Castelló (Mollerusa), and later was appointed director of the factory at Lecherías del Noroeste S.A (LENOSA) in León, where he worked for nine years. In 1977, he returned to Mollerussa as the Managing Director of Leche el Castillo, a position he held until 1991. On January 1, 1992, he joined

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

AEPA and took on the role of Managing Director of Productos del Café S.A. (

). Parallel to his professional work, in 1979 he became part of the founding group of the Arabell school, which at that time belonged to

's Fomento de Centros de Enseñanza. He was actively involved in launching the educational institution, which began its journey (September 15, 1979) provisionally in Raimat, an elegant modernist building that had been used for years as the school for girls in the town. The school moved to its permanent location on October 2, 1980, on the road from Lleida to Huesca.

Personal life

In 1965, he married Roser Simó Cima, with whom he had eleven children: María de los Ángeles, María del Carmen, Roser, Jaime, Toni, Josep, Jordi, Kiko, Rafa, Mariona, and Joan. In May 1980, he applied for admission to

as a

Supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more common ...

member. Upon his passing, his friends and colleagues compiled about a hundred tributes in a book titled "Pepe Serret: Recuerdos de sus amigos" (Pepe Serret: Memories from his friends). Years later, the first biography of Pepe Serret would be published: "Himno a la vida, 1ª ed., 2000. Biografía del empresario Josep Serret Borda (1941-1993)" (Hymn to Life, 1st ed., 2000. Biography of the businessman Josep Serret Borda (1941-1993)). He died in a traffic accident on January 25, 1993, while returning from Madrid and heading to a parent meeting at his children's school.

Official bibliographies

* Coverdale, John F, "Encounters: Finding God in All Walks of Life", Scepter, 2023, 1st edition, 187-209 pp. * Rico Romero, Octavio - Xandri, Juan (eds.), "Pepe Serret: Recuerdos de sus amigos" (Pepe Serret: Memories from his Friends). Lleida, 1994, 1st edition, 371 pp. * Raventós Artés, Lluís, "Himne a la vida: Una semblança de Josep Serret" (Hymn to Life: A Portrait of Josep Serret). Terrassa, Albada, 1998, 1st edition, 112 pp. * Raventós Artés, Lluís, "Pepe Serret: Himno a la Vida" (Pepe Serret: Hymn to Life). Madrid, Palabra, 2000, 1st Spanish edition, 122 pp. (2nd edition, 2000).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serret Borda, Pepe 1941 births 1993 deaths Opus Dei members University of Navarra alumni People from Lleida Spanish businesspeople Nestlé people