Jose Dominguez Urosa

José Dominguez Urosa passed away on Thursday, November 9 at the age of 88. He was born in Madrid, Spain on January 19, 1935 to Matilde Urosa de Dominguez and Vicente Dominguez. When José’s father died in the Spanish Civil War, his Tia Pepa (Josephina) helped raise him. Lovingly known as Pepe by his family, he spent his early years in post-war Spain and immigrated to Colombia to escape the Franco regime and pursue education on a scholarship. José was a renaissance man whose young adult jobs ranging from practicing as a chemical engineer to running a publishing house to directing an educational development non-profit, led him to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard, José met the love of his life and the wind beneath his sails, Muriel Farley Dominguez; and they married on December 27, 1970. They moved to Colombia when they first married, then back to Cambridge where their daughters were born, before settling in Arlington, Virginia where they lived together with their family for 50 years.

José committed the majority of his professional career to education development with the World Bank throughout Mexico, South America, Africa, and the Middle East and teaching United Nations representatives. José was a life-long intellectual and innovator who was always passionate about world events and ahead of his time whether working on the first computer at MIT or as an early believer in the internet and alternative energy. José was a gifted fútbol player, sailor, singer, and artist with a great sense of humor and smile for everyone he came across. He was also deeply spiritual and involved in his Catholic Church community, attending daily mass, teaching Sunday school at St. Ann’s, and caring deeply about justice in the world and those who are suffering. Above all, José was profoundly committed to his family and a devoted father and grandfather who was most happy dancing with his wife, snorkeling with his daughters, making flan with his grandchildren, or sitting around a table or bonfire with extended family.

José is survived by his loving wife, Muriel Farley Dominguez; his daughters, Ruth Dominguez and Maria José Dominguez Gray; his son-in-law, Christopher Gray; his grandchildren, Chris, Cecilia, and Peter; sisters-in-law, Ruth Woolard and Barbara Heller and brother-in-Law, Arthur Heller; and nieces and nephews, José Vicente, Elizabeth, Paul, Jim, Dan, Elaine, Mary, Arthur, and Jim; along with countless beloved cousins and extended family. He is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Vicente Dominguez Urosa.

The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 5300 North 10th Street Arlington, Virginia 22205 on Monday November 20th, 2023 at 10:30am followed by a private burial.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the St. Ann’s Building and Property Fund as they renovate the old convent to a new school building or to the Phillips Brooks House Association in recognition of José Dominguez.