Fulgencio Ruben Batista

BATISTA, FULGENCIO RUBEN, passed away on November 7, 2007 after a courageous and inspirational battle with leukemia. Ruben, also called Papo since childhood, was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 18, 1933. He was born two months after his father, ex-Cuban President, Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar, became the military leader of the 4th of September revolution and ten days after their house was bombed in the counter revolution. His mother, Elisa Godinez Gomez, had left the house shortly before the explosion. By a twist of fate, Ruben was born in the very house that Carmen Robaina - his future wife - later lived in when the couple first dated. His first six years of life were spent at Columbia Military Camp in Cuba. Later, when his father was elected president in 1940, he moved with his family to the presidential palace in old Havana, where they stayed until 1944. After that, his father moved to Daytona Beach for three years and Ruben attended New York Military Academy. He later completed high school at Ruston Academy, which he recalled fondly. When his father assumed the presidency of Cuba through a coup d'etat in 1952, Ruben made sure to protect some of his closest friends at Ruston, many of them the sons and daughters of his father's political opponents. A 2007 Miami Herald article quoted Ruston's headmaster's son as saying, Ruben "personally urged his father to make sure that his classmates, Prio's nieces, had not been harmed and were OK." Ruben went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1956 with a degree in economics. He also sang for the glee club there as a baritone. But Ruben's heart always belonged to his wife, Carmen. He fell in love at first sight when he spotted her in a black one-piece swimsuit, his favorite kind of swimsuit to this day - on a beach in Havana in 1954 and predicted she would be his bride. They married two years later in 1956. Their love was unwavering and inspiring. In 1959, after the revolution succeeded and his father lost power, the family moved to Spain and eventually settled in Miami. Ruben was involved in various business ventures but primarily worked in real estate and property management. He was President of the Cuban Museum Foundation of Daytona Beach and of the FBZ Archivos Foundation involving Cuban history and culture. Ruben's passion lay in world history, including Cuba's own history, and the study of religions. He had an insatiable curiosity, a keen intelligence and a thirst for knowledge. He had a dry wit. Most of all, he was bighearted and loyal. The tumult that often marked his life made him rock strong and he was a pillar of stability. During his last weeks of life, a non-stop stream of visitors came to say goodbye. Despite his high profile in the Miami community, Ruben lived his life privately and unassumingly. He was as fearless in death as he was in life. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Carmen Batista, his daughters, Maria Aleida, Maribel, Maria del Carmen (married-Daniel Murphy), and Maria Teresa (married David Worland); his grandchildren, Siena Batista Worland, Skye Elyssa Worland, and Daniel Luis Murphy; siblings, family & friends. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to La Liga Contra El Cancer and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (attn: Basic Scientific Research). Ferdinand Funeral Homes & Crematory 305-631-0001 To visit this Guest Book Online, go to www.MiamiHerald.com/obituaries.