Sergio Francisco Galeano

Sergio Francisco Galeano passed away peacefully at his home in Dublin, Ohio on August 18, 2019. He was born on April 7, 1934 in Havana, Cuba to Rafael Galeano and Adriana (Fortun) Galeano. Always an excellent student, Sergio began school in the 3rd grade and, despite always being 2 years younger than his classmates, received academic honors from grade school through college and always graduated at the top of his class. He graduated from the De La Salle (Vedado) high school in and while there medaled in rowing. He graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in Civil Engineering. His diploma was almost withheld due to campus protests by the Communist party, but he and others were able to negotiate a resolution with the protestors.

In early 1961, Sergio joined with other Cuban counter revolutionaries being trained by the C.I.A. in Guatemala. The 1,500 members of Brigade 2506 launched the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961, in an effort to free their homeland from the Communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Captured, the men were imprisoned for 20 months before being released to the U.S. on Christmas Day 1962.

In 1963, Sergio enrolled in the University of Florida and by 1966 earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering within the burgeoning field of environmental engineering. His distinguished career spanned more than 50 years. He spent 24 years in Toledo, Ohio, working for the pulp and paper division of Owens-Illinois and then Great Northern Nekoosa. He spent another 23 years at Georgia Pacific in Atlanta, Georgia and then consulted past his 80th birthday. Sergio is the credited inventor of seven (7) U.S. Patents for pollution reduction processes. He lectured often, published well over 50 industry articles, and contributed to numerous academic and industry reference books. His work took him to 6 continents and approximately 25 countries. Sergio represented the United States (and led multinational teams) as part of international environmental collaborations throughout the world (such as the one known as the Kyoto, Japan) , all in an effort to establishing international pollution control standards in the pulp and paper industry. He was recognized in 1995 in a ceremony of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) with its highest award "in recognition of outstanding contribution to the industry".

Sergio was preceded in death by his father and mother, as well as his older brother Rafael and wives Rosa Margarita (Andreu) Galeano and Marcia Ann (Gaynor) Galeano. He is survived by daughter Margarita (Philip) Langley-Jones, sons Sergei (Meredith) Galeano, Michael (Judy) Galeano, and Brenton (Alexandra) Galeano. He is also survived by his eight (8) grandchildren: Rosa (Jim) Sutphin, Gina (Bill) Sares, and Jack, Sam, Nick, Marcus, Alexandra, and Svetlana Galeano; as well as five (5) great grandsons: Colt, Cavan, Archer, George, and Elias.

Sergio has established the Dr. Sergio F. Galeano Endowed Scholarship at the University of Florida to assist students in the A.P. Black School of Environmental Engineering.

Sergio will be interned in Gainesville, Florida in a private family ceremony. However, those wishing to convey condolences may do so with the Schoedinger Funeral Service at www.schoedinger.com.