Celso Perez

Celso was born on January 11, 1927 in Galicia, Spain into a family of poor subsistence farmers. The third child in a family of five sons and two daughters of Cristano Perez and Maria Gonzalez.

At about the age of ten, he took his first journey off the mountain on a bus to the nearest town of Celanova. In discriping the bus to his three younger brothers, he said it was like a dresser with wheels on it. His education never went beyond a third grade level, but he taught himself to read English when he came to the United States.

His mother vowed that none of her sons would go into Franco's army. His older brother had already “escaped” to the United States. When Celso was 17, it was his turn to leave. With a new suit and $50.00, he boarded a ship in Portugal and sailed to New Orleans. With his brother's address in New Jersey written on a piece of paper and knowing no English, he would show people the address and they would direct him to the bus or train station to make his way to New Jersey.

As there were already many Spanish immigrants working the mines in West Virginia, he decided to go there to begin his life in America. He heard of a mine owner in Virginia who treated his workers better and Celso went there.

He returned to New Jersey where he worked several jobs before getting hired on the docks of Newark. It was hard work and sometimes, before unionization, the workers were required to work seven day stretches with little or no sleep.

He met and married Aurelia Feijoo in 1950, another immigrant from the same mountain in Spain, who came to America at the age of four. They had two children, Joseph, born in 1951 and Luis, born in 1957.

In 1977, at the age of 50, he had a work related accident that defined the rest of his life. A three ton container fell on both femur bones in his legs and completely smashed them. He spent 6 months in the hospital. When the doctors stood him up for the first time on his legs, one leg collapsed and he spent another 3 months with both legs in casts. Through his sheer determination and stubbornness, he willed himself to walk again.

Because of the flatness and climate in Florida, Celso and Aurelia decided to move to there where the heat and humidity seemed to relieve him of pain. They purchased property on a canal and built their home there. He enjoyed working in his gardens and doing work around the house and he could be seen walking the development with his cane and talking to neighbors.

Celso had three grandchildren, Jubal Perez of Utah, Melissa Perez Bowen of California and Jessica Perez of North Carolina. He also had five great-grandchildren, Shelby, Brody, Aiden, Maya and Zoe. All of them became the joy of his life and the reason for his existence. In his later years when all his great-grandchildren would come to visit, he would sit in a chair with a smile and watch them in the pool.

He lost his wife in 1994 of cancer and his son, Luis in 2012 of cancer as well.

Celso lived a long and productive life. His family would call him the Energizer bunny cause no matter what happened to him, he would bounce back. He will be missed by his entire family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to be made to the VNA Foundation (772-567-5551) located at 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960, in memory of Celso Perez.