Gonzalo Emilio Gonzalez

Gonzálo Emilio González passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on September 5, 2018. Gonzálo was born in 1932 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, the son of Nieves Martinez and Carmelo González, a local business owner. Gonzálo was the second of 4 children born to his parents, including his older brother Pedro José, and his younger twin sisters Zelmira and Mirta.

Gonzálo received his bachelor’s degree as well as a degree in land surveying and appraising from the Insituto de Secundaria Enseñanza in Pinar del Rio, continued his studies in topography in Havana at the Universidad de la Habana, and returned to study law in Pinar del Rio. In 1956 he began working as a surveyor in Pinar del Rio. In 1957 while working in the town of Mantua he met and later married Dolores María Peláez. In 1959 the couple moved to Havana. In 1960 their first child, José Emilio González, was born in that city and in 1965 their second child, Angela Nieves González, arrived. The family left Cuba for the United States in 1968 in search of freedom, self-determination and a better life for their children. They settled in Ossining, NY, where Gonzálo continued working as a surveyor. In 1997 he retired and moved with his wife to Weston, FL.

Gonzálo began his lifelong commitment to strength training and weightlifting at age 15. During the course of his lifting career he competed in and won countless competitions in his native Cuba, in the U.S., and in other locations around the world. In 2002, at the age of 70, he traveled to Melbourne, Australia to compete in the World Masters Games, and won 3rd place in the world for his age and weight class in the clean and jerk. He was a US Weightlifting Federation National Masters champion 6 times. He also officiated for many years as a referee and jury member at competitions around the world sponsored by USA Weightlifting and the International Weightlifting Federation. In addition to weightlifting, after moving to Florida he competed in and won numerous race-walking meets.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Dolores. He is survived by his son José and daughter Angela, son-in-law Robert Ritger and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Wiegard, nephew José Alberto González and wife Cari, and grandchildren Desmond, Cary and Emma González and Roberto and Rosaura Ritger. He is also survived by his sister Mirta and other family in Cuba.

Gonzálo was a model of strength to all who knew him. He embodied not only physical strength but also strength of will, strength of character and the enduring strength of love, a love he shared with his family, his friends, and his adopted country, to which he gave his unwavering and absolute devotion.

In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation in his name to the Parkinson’s Foundation, parkinson.org.