Alex Raul Vazquez

Alex was born Aug 16, 1932 in Melena del Sur, Province Havana, Cuba as Alexis Raul Vazquez. He had two older sisters - Fabiola and Yolanda - and when he was 10 years old the family moved to Matanzas, Cuba.

On July 8, 1949 he met the love of his life, Orquidea (Orchid) Inocencia Jimenez Ramos. On their first date, they promised to love each other forever and she became his eternal "soulmate”. As a young man he worked for the Cuban Electric Company in Havana.

Alex and Orchid were married on Dec 4, 1954. They welcomed two boys, Alejandro (Alexander) in 1955 and Jorge (George) in 1956. As a family they enjoyed spending time at the beach and Alex enjoyed taking his sons on bike rides.

It was his dream to bring his family to the United States for a better life. In 1965 the family applied to leave Cuba for the U.S. In Oct 1970, they were finally granted permission to leave Cuba on the “Freedom Flights” for the U.S., and he felt that all the prayers and candles he’d lit to the saints had opened the door to America. He felt such a debt of gratitude to this country and throughout his life expressed how much he loved being an American. Eventually he became a US Citizen, which was an immensely proud moment in his life.

Within a week of arriving in America, he was proudly toting a California Driver’s license and a new job at Kimberly Clark. Alex remained at Kimberly Clark until 1998 when he retired. Of all the positions he held at Kimberly Clark, he was most proud of the title he earned as Mr. Safety.

Alex and Orchid loved to travel. They spent a lot of time in the Caribbean at their timeshare in Aruba and some of their favorite weekend get-away spots were Solvang, Laughlin, and Lake Tahoe. After retiring, he and Orchid even got a little adventurous and moved to Florida for about 3 years, however, the separation from family proved to be too difficult and they eventually moved back to California.

Alex adored spending time with his 4 grandkids and 4 great grandkids. He and Orchid would take the grandkids on trips and support them at their sporting events.

By nature, Alex was always optimistic and a big kid at heart. He was a friend to everyone he met. It did not matter if you knew him for 5 years or 5 minutes, you were his friend.

Alex once said: “A simple statement that sums up my attitude about life is: Always try new things in life, if you don't succeed, try again because failure will give you the experience to achieve your future goals."