Luis Orlando Figueroa Sr., (57) went home to the Lord on January 6th, 2013 after a valiant battle with brain cancer. He was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico where he grew up with two brothers, Arnaldo and Reinaldo. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico with Magna Cum Laude honors. He accomplished this while raising a young family and working full time. Shortly after graduating, they moved to Laurel, Maryland to work for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. While working for NASA, he went to the University of Maryland and obtained his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. At NASA, he worked on the communication systems for the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1984, he relocated his family to Palm Bay for a position with Harris Corporation. He worked with Harris for 22 years, specializing in communications. He was known for being a mathematician, physicist, and engineer extraordinaire.
Luis mastered everything that he set his mind to which led to a life full of variety. His pastimes included but not limited to: classical guitar, tennis, bowling, firearm shooting, Taekwondo, handwriting analysis, and dancing. As a young man, he played in the “String Orchestra of Puerto Rico” and toured in Puerto Rico and the United States with a performance at Carnegie Hall. He was known to have bowled multiple perfect games. He was very proud to have served as an Emergency Medical Technician with Harbor City Volunteer Ambulance.
He always loved animals and often had a variety of pets. This included a number of dogs, birds, ferrets, and fish through the years.
Luis was a devoted man of God who was led to the Lord by his college roommate. This prompted him to read the Bible in its entirety to determine if this was the true way to salvation. Luis taught himself Hebrew and Greek to better understand the original transcripts of the old and new testaments. While in Maryland, he attended Grace Baptist Church. In Palm Bay, he attended Covenant Presbyterian. In his later years, he considered Calvary Chapel of Melbourne to be his home church. Throughout his years in Christian churches he held many leadership positions and especially enjoyed teaching.
Luis was preceded in death by his father Felipe Figueroa, mother Mercedes Mangual Gray, and brother Angel Mangual.
He is survived by his wife of 10 years Connie “Liz” Figueroa, sons Luis Figueroa, Jr. (Janelle) and David Figueroa; grandchildren Alyssa, Janessa, and Luis; brothers Miguel Franco, Arnaldo Figueroa, Reinaldo Figueroa; and many other beloved Figueroa family members.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or Brevard Humane Society. A memorial service will held at 2:00pm on Sunday, January 13th, 2013 at Fountainhead Funeral Home in Palm Bay.
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