Ricardo Morales

MORALES Ricardo Morales, 100, of Jacksonville passed away February 28, 2007 after a short decline. Ricardo was born in Havana, Cuba on February 1, 1907. He attended and graduated from Colegio de Belen (Jesuit) High School. He attended two summer sessions at Culver Military Academy, Culver, IN and in 1933 he graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in Architecture earning a Civil Engineering degree one year later. In 1934 he founded the Architectural and Engineering Firm “Morales y Castroverde” which prospered and remained active until 1960 when most senior partners left Cuba after the Communists “take over” of his country. On (Memorial Day) May 30, 1960, he, his wife Maria Felicia and their youngest son Jorge, left Cuba to attend the graduation of their oldest sons, Ricardo, Jr. & Eduardo Jose, from engineering school Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and never returned. For two years, he worked as an Engineer with Raymond International inNew York City until he joined Houdaille Industries at the company's headquarters in Buffalo, NY. In December 1962, after 6 months at the company's headquarters, he was transferred to the Florida Division here in Jacksonville called the Houdaille-Duval-Wright Company, where he remained in various executive positions, until his retirement in 1974. He was actively involved in several professional and business organizations here in Jacksonville and was a member of the San Jose Catholic Church, San Jose Country Club and the River Club. As a young man, he was quite an athlete and participated in various international sports competitions. He represented Cuba in the Baseball Amateur World Series and on the Cuban Davis Cup “Tennis” Team for close to 20 years, playing against Canada, United States, Mexico, Jamaica, ect., during those years, 5 times he was Cuban National Singles Champion, and 12 times National Doubles Champion with 5 different partners. In 1935 he was crowned Central American & Caribbean Singles & Doubles Champion, repeating again as Doubles Champion in 1946. Here in Jacksonville he limited his athletic activities to San Jose Country Club, where he actively played golf for over 30 years. Ricardo had 3 Holes-in-One in Havana and one at San Jose Country Club. Ricardo was preceded in death by his wife, Maria and his three sisters, Elvira, Rosa & Julia. He is survived by his three sons, Ricardo, Jr. (Marcia), Eduardo (Georgina) & Jorge (Marjorie); 8 grandchildren, Rosa Maria ( Fitch King), Eduardo, Jr. (Valerie), Ricardo, III (Amy), Gigi (Charles David), Bob (Mauren), Marcia (Ia) (Laurence Howard), Lillian (Jonathan Corbin), Michael (Zoe) and 17 great grandchildren. The family is very appreciative of the care given by Jean D'Amour at St. Catherine de Laboure Manor and would appreciate donations in lieu of flowers to the St. Vincent's Foundation. A rosary will be held 6:00 PM Sunday at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home, 4115 Hendricks Avenue. A funeral masswill be held 10:00 AM Monday, March 5, 2007 at San Jose Catholic Church followed by interment at Oaklawn Cemetery. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com