Thomas Santiago

Mr. Thomas Santiago, 77, born in San German, PR, died on 12/04/18 following a brief illness. He was preceded in death by his parents Luz and Tomas Santiago, sister Carmen (Robert) Casar and brother Ismael (Renata) Santiago. He is survived by his brother Ruben, dozens of adoring cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. Mr. Santiago spent most of his life in the NYC area, earning a BA in Romance Languages in 1963 and MS in Education in 1970. He briefly worked for the NYC Department of Welfare until induction into the army in January 1964. He served in the army until honorable discharge in February 1966. He then began a lifelong career in elementary education as a teacher at P.S. 157 in the Bronx, NY then on to P.S. 149 as assistant principal until promotion to Principal in 1990. He was passionate about bringing the open classroom concept to teaching, initiated a youth tutoring program, taught the first bilingual class when initiated in NYC, and brought his love of singing and musicals to others by initiating annual staff musicals. He received the prestigious Teacher of the Year award in May 1990. He retired in 1996, volunteering many years to the NYC Big Apple Greeters program before moving to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl in 1998. He enjoyed traveling extensively throughout Europe, Russia, Turkey, and South America. Cremation has been arranged through the Neptune Society. A Memorial Service will be held in the coming months. His final resting place will be the Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Fl. Donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation (pancreatic cancer nonprofit), St. Jude, or the Ft. Lauderdale Humane Society.