November 22, 1929 – December 5, 2019
Carlos Adolfo Quevedo of Apopka, Florida, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, November 22, 1929. His father, also named Carlos Quevedo, built houses as part of the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) after World War II. His mother, Blanca Pol, was an avid Bible worker.
Carlos grew up in St. Just, living in one of the four-room block homes his father had built for the PRRA. The Quevedos harvested much of their food from the land where avocados, papayas, mangoes, bananas and coconuts as well as all kinds of root vegetables grew in abundance. Of course, rice and beans were the main fare.
Like many little boys in Puerto Rico, Carlos liked baseball. On Sunday mornings, he’d take a bus to San Juan to spend the day watching ballgames. After the first one finished, he’d catch another bus to Santurce where his grandmother had lunch prepared. Then he’d take a bus back to the stadium in time for an afternoon game. At the end of the day, he had just enough money remaining for bus fare back to St. Just.
By the time Carlos graduated from high school, the colleges in Puerto Rico were flooded with students on the G.I. Bill, so he applied to Southwestern Junior College in Keene, Texas. On Christmas Eve 1946, Carlos boarded a freighter headed to Galveston, leaving his Caribbean island home for the first time in his life. While at Southwestern, Carlos was baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.
After two years in Texas, he moved to Tennessee and enrolled in the medical technology program at Madison College, a school with a work-study program especially suited for students with little or no money. Carlos’s first job was in the college kitchen, peeling potatoes, and had it not been for the intervention of a co-worker named Rachel Campbell, there would have been a serious shortage of potatoes in the cafeteria that day. Their friendship grew over time, and they were married June 10, 1951, in Rachel’s hometown of Marshall, Texas.
In 1953, Uncle Sam requested Carlos’s services in South Korea. A conscientious objector, he served his country as a medic in the 25th Division of the United States Army, earning the rank of sergeant.
Carlos and Rachel had two sons, Mike, currently a resident of Marion County, and Daniel now of Longwood. June 6, 1966, was one of the most memorable dates in Carlos’s life because it was his first day of employment at AdventHealth Orlando, where he was assistant director of the clinical laboratory for 29 years. Sadly, Rachel died in 1977. Carlos later met and married Jane Allen of Orlando. They were married September 24, 1995.
A devoted Christian and member of the Seventh-day Adventist church, Carlos served many years as a deacon and participated in several mission trips to build churches in South America and the Caribbean. He was a lifetime member of Kiwanis.
On December 5, 2019, Carlos died at AdventHealth Orlando, and now awaits the coming of the Lord on Resurrection Day. His survivors include his wife, two sons, one daughter-in-law, three grandchildren and one great grandchild.
A services will be at Markham Woods Seventh-day Adventist Church, 11 a.m., December 15, 2019.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18