Luis Perez's Obituary
Luis Perez, age 88 of Leesburg, passed away on October 28th, 2010 when death finally claimed Luis Perez-Garcia, he was a man who had spent the first part of his life escaping it while caught in 2 major wars, leading a life of adventure and wanderlust. Luis died peacefully at Cornerstone Hospice of complications of kidney failure. Luis was born in Plasencia, Spain, Dec 7th 1921, the sixth of 7 children of Jose Perez Remedios and Higinia Garcia Martin. His family moved to Madrid in 1922 and became caught up in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The war divided their family, and 16 year old Luis, an anti-Fascist, found himself in the mountains of central Spain fighting for the Loyalists against Franco. When the Loyalists lost in March, 1939 Luis became a political refugee and escaped from a series of concentration camps before agreeing to join the French Foreign Legion, serving in Algeria and Marrakesh. Luisthen joined the infamous Blue Division, a Spanish fighting force given to Hitler by Franco to fight on the Russian Front. Mr. Perez saw the deadliest action of WWII in Minsk, Nogorov, Tsudova, and Leningrad (only 3,000 of the 18,000 members of the Division survived). Luis then traveled to Spanish Morocco as a member of the Spanish Foreign Legion, where he escaped to French Morocco, which was under American and British control. There, Mr. Perez worked for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in Casablanca before joining the British Army and being transferred to Naples. After being honorably discharged Luis worked various odd jobs throughout Italy, Africa, and France, finally reaching Marseilles where he became a merchant seaman and traveled the world for several shipping companies, including the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Ashore in New York City in 1952 Luis met Ida Ramirez, a Fordham University student. They married in1953 and settled down, first in Sunnyside, Queens, then in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and finally in Paramus, New Jersey. Mr. Perez worked for Eastern Airlines as a ticket agent manager from 1959 to his retirement in 1983. Luis’ work for the airline made excellent use of his extensive knowledge of geography and languages (Luis spoke Spanish, French, English, Italian, German, Russian, and Moroccan) and allowed him to transfer his love of travel to his family, who frequently accompanied him on trips all over the world. In 1993 Luis and Ida retired to Leesburg, Florida, where they lead an active social life cruising the world, visiting family on both sides of the U.S, and making close friends in their retirement community, Scottish Highlands. Luis will be remembered as a committed family man, knowledgeable conversationalist, and a true man of the world. He was much loved by his wife of 57 years, Ida Perez of Leesburg, FL, and is also survived by two daughters, Lucia Perez Chase of Blairstown, N.J., and Irene Perez Vetto of Portland, OR; two son-in-laws, Drs R Donald Chase and John Tyson Vetto, and three grandchildren, Ben, Amelia, and Eloy. Mr. Perez’ 6 siblings in Spain preceded him in death. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Central Florida branch of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.Condolences may be left for the family by signing the guestbook below!
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