Florida Senate - 2013                            (NP)    SR 1906
       
       
       
       By Senator Diaz de la Portilla
       
       
       
       
       40-04953A-13                                          20131906__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution remembering the life of Enrique Emilio
    3         Ros Perez, recognizing his extraordinary legacy, and
    4         expressing the deepest sympathy of the members of the
    5         Florida Senate to his beloved family and friends on
    6         his passing.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, Enrique Emilio Ros Perez was born to Josefina
    9  Perez and Abelardo Ros in Cienfuegos, Las Villas, Cuba, on June
   10  28, 1924, and
   11         WHEREAS, Enrique proudly attended public school, was
   12  admitted in 1939 to the Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza, and, in
   13  1941, began his studies in Santa Clara at the Escuela Normal de
   14  Maestros de Las Villas, where he graduated as a teacher, and
   15         WHEREAS, in 1944, Enrique transferred to the School of
   16  Commercial Sciences at Universidad de la Habana, where he
   17  graduated with a degree in public accounting, and
   18         WHEREAS, while completing his studies at Universidad de la
   19  Habana, Enrique worked for a prestigious pharmaceutical company,
   20  becoming a delegate and director for the pharmaceutical union,
   21  where he discussed collective contracts with the Ministry of
   22  Labor, and
   23         WHEREAS, on February 23, 1948, Enrique married Amanda Adato
   24  Menache, a young woman of Jewish-Turkish descent, and they
   25  remained married for 63 years until her passing on January 28,
   26  2011, and
   27         WHEREAS, Enrique and Amanda had two children, Enrique
   28  “Henry” Ros, now vice director of the Port of Miami, and Ileana
   29  Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Florida
   30  Senate and the Florida House of Representatives and currently a
   31  member of the United States House of Representatives, and
   32         WHEREAS, Enrique became a distinguished member of the
   33  Federacion Sindical Nacional de Viajantes de Medicina, which
   34  allowed him to participate in various national congresses, and
   35         WHEREAS, Enrique established a public accounting firm in
   36  Cuba, Ros-Solis y Adato, where he represented renowned European
   37  pharmaceutical companies, began to publish articles on important
   38  issues in the local press, and became part of the political and
   39  social Christian organization, El Movimiento Democrata
   40  Cristiano, and
   41         WHEREAS, with the rise of the Castro regime, El Movimiento
   42  Democrata Cristiano ended its public activity, with many of its
   43  members forming a clandestine organization, in which Enrique
   44  served as the national coordinator, and
   45         WHEREAS, in this role, Enrique established relations with
   46  members and directors of other pro-democracy groups, which
   47  motivated other directors to assign him as national coordinator
   48  of El Frente Revolucionario Democratico (FRD), which was formed
   49  in 1959, and Enrique assumed the responsibility of coordinating
   50  various anti-Castro organizations in Cuba, and
   51         WHEREAS, even after Enrique and his family were forced into
   52  exile, he worked with El Frente Revolucionario Democratico,
   53  where he participated in infiltration operations against the
   54  totalitarian regime with Clemente (Mente) Inclan, Alfonsito
   55  Gomez Mena, Laureano Batista, Jorge Sotus, Pedro Luis Diaz Lans,
   56  and others, who inspired him to write for newspapers in
   57  Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Peru, and
   58         WHEREAS, in 1963, Enrique went on to collaborate with
   59  Diario Las Americas in Miami, where he continued his passionate
   60  and eloquent support of democracy and freedom for the Cuban
   61  people through the remainder of his life, and
   62         WHEREAS, in the early years of their exile, Enrique and
   63  Amanda founded one of the most successful freight-forwarding
   64  enterprises, Ros Forwarding, which they operated for more than
   65  30 years until their retirement, and
   66         WHEREAS, after immigrating to the United States, Enrique
   67  attended Miami Dade Community College and, on January 24, 1969,
   68  received his bachelor of business administration degree from the
   69  University of Miami, and
   70         WHEREAS, Enrique published 19 books, which remain an
   71  important source of reference for historians, academics, and
   72  other scholars, and received numerous awards and recognitions,
   73  including accreditation as a researcher in the National Archives
   74  of the United States, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, and
   75  the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas, and
   76         WHEREAS, at the time of his death, on April 10, 2013,
   77  Enrique was writing his 20th book, which detailed the military
   78  bravery of Cuban hero Antonio Maceo, and
   79         WHEREAS, Enrique was a member of various local and national
   80  organizations and participated frequently in radio and
   81  television programs, and his tireless work and dedication made
   82  him one of the most documented and prolific historians of our
   83  time, and
   84         WHEREAS, Enrique was loved and is affectionately remembered
   85  by his children; his daughter-in-law, Ana Ros; his son-in-law,
   86  Dexter Lehtinen; his four grandchildren, Jennifer Ros, Katherine
   87  Ros, Rodrigo Lehtinen, and Patricia Lehtinen, and two step
   88  grandchildren, Katherine and Douglas Lehtinen; his three great
   89  grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren; his extended
   90  family; and a host of friends, NOW, THEREFORE,
   91  
   92  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   93  
   94         That we remember the life of Enrique Emilio Ros Perez,
   95  recognize his extraordinary legacy, and express our deepest
   96  sympathy to his beloved family and friends on his passing.