JOSE SORZANO

SORZANO Ambassador, José S. Sorzano José Silverio Sorzano, 80, of Arlington, Virginia, and Levels, West Virginia, died December 29, 2020, at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, Virginia. He was the son of the late José Silverio Sorzano y deCardenas and Matilde Sanchez Montoulieu Sorzano. He was born and raised in Havana and came to the United States in 1960, fleeing communist Cuba. Ambassador Sorzano was a university professor, diplomat, presidential adviser, and international businessman. He served on several government boards and commissions and was a long-standing member of the MasTec Inc. board of directors. He received numerous scholarships, fellowships, honors, and awards throughout his life. He always described his life as The American Story. He came to the US at the age of 20, with his basketball shoes (he was on the Cuban national championship team) and five dollars. His first job was mopping floors in the Key Bridge Marriott kitchen where he was provided a free meal and an opportunity to learn English. In order to understand what had happened to his birth country he enrolled at Georgetown University earning a degree in international affairs and then a PhD in political philosophy from Georgetown. He became a US citizen in 1972, one of the proudest days of his life. For 18 years, he was an Associate Professor of Government at Georgetown University, specializing in political theory. José also served as US Peace Corps Director in Colombia, South America which during his tenure became the second largest Peace Corps program in the world. In 1981, President Reagan appointed him US Ambassador to the United Nations as US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and then as Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Ambassador Sorzano served for five years. In 1987, he was appointed to the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President (Ronald Reagan) and Senior Director for Latin American Affairs serving for almost two years. After leaving government service, he was the President of the Cuban American National Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting a free, independent, and democratic Cuba, after which he established his own international consulting firm specializing in joint ventures between US and foreign firms. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Shannon Hogan Sorzano of Arlington, VA, and Levels, WV; their daughter Julia Matilde Sutula (David) of Fairfax, VA; their son José S. Sorzano, Jr. (Tracy) of Palm City, FL; and three grandchildren, Shannon Kay Sutula, José S. Sorzano III, and Jacob Donald Sorzano. Also surviving are his three sisters, Maria Matilde Menocal (Jorge), Gloria Monge, and Georgina Binkins (Martin), and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. A funeral mass will be held at St John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, VA, on Saturday, January 16 at 12 p.m. Burial will be in the Hogan family plot in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in NJ. Memorial donations may be made to Center for a Free Cuba, Cubacenter.org; or Helping Hands, 24 W Main St, Romney, WV 26757.A funeral mass will be held at St John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, VA, on Saturday, January 16 at 12 p.m. Burial will be in the Hogan family plot in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in NJ. Memorial donations may be made to Center for a Free Cuba, Cubacenter.org; or Helping Hands, 24 W Main St, Romney, WV 26757.