Juan Manuel Perez, age 83, died on the 26th of December 2013 in Missouri City, Texas. He is survived by his wife and companion of 57 years, Nery Ondina Perez, his daughters, Susana Nery Knight and Mari Mercedes Perez, his grandchildren, Suzanne Marie Knight Pittman and Christian James Knight, and his great grandchildren, Sophia Marie Pittman and Amelia Grace Pittman. Also surviving is his sister Miriam, three sisters in law, along with numerous nephews and nieces.
Juan, also known to close friends and family as “Manolo” was born on August 2, 1930 in Placetas, Las Villas, Cuba. He was one of eight children. He had two sisters and five brothers. At the young age of two, he lost his father to pneumonia and he and his siblings were forced to help take care of each other and assist with their widowed mother.
He became a “jack of all trades” and worked as a medic at a local clinic, clerk at a clothing shop, and became a bread baker and owned the infamous, “El Tigre de Oro”, that still stands in Cuba today.
He met the love of his life, Nery, at a New Year’s Eve party where he boldly interrupted a dance between her and another gentleman and fell in love with her upon first sight. He would drive past her house in his motorcycle, “pasando lista” to let her know he was interested.
Merely weeks before they were to get married, his brother and best man Nicolas, who loved racing cars died in a tragic car accident. His family urged him to continue with the wedding plans because Nicolas would have wanted it that way.
Juan and Nery were married on September 20, 1956. He made all of the wedding arrangements himself and paid for the entire wedding. He had even built his bride a new home, upon her sister’s advice, in order to propose.
They had two beautiful daughters that he loved more than life itself, Susana and Mari.
In March 1967, the family migrated to the United States with literally the clothes on their backs. In exchange for freedom and opportunity everything they owned and everything they had including family had to be left behind.
For the next eight years they found a home in Perth Amboy, N.J. Without job experience and language skills they both found jobs and worked at minimum wage in order to provide security and future opportunities for their daughters.
The family lived in Hialeah Florida, until they found their permanent home when they moved to Houston, TX in 1976.
Manolo had a great sense of humor and loved life…. Most of his free time was spent with family. He loved cooking and fishing and became very popular among family and friends for his funny stories, delicious Cuban dishes and the fishing stories that were proven true with pictures we now treasure. He loved entertaining the crowd and making Thanksgiving-sized meals to bring together friends and family.
His favorite past time was driving to Galveston every Sunday and spending time with his fishing buddies (his second family) at the Pier. At the Pier he was known as “Pops” and respected for his seniority and knowledge of fishing. He even had a place at the pier that you may say was “reserved”. Stories have been told that when the rookie fisherman filled his spot, the regulars would stand around and watch waiting for Pops to arrive and claim his place at the Pier.
He was truly in his element when he went fishing and basked in the glory of bringing his trophies home to show off and to feed his family.
He will be missed every day, especially at all our family gatherings. We will always remember his sense of humor, his gift of telling jokes and making people laugh until they cried, his overwhelming generosity, and the security he stood for.
He will live in our hearts forever and we will continue to celebrate the beautiful life he lived.
In lieu of flowers, any contributions may be made to Chase Bank (1.800.935.9935 or 281.575.2060) in the name of Mari Perez (Memorial Fund) account ending in 2665.
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