Luis H. Cantilo

On October 6, 2010, the Good Lord called home one of his most devoted and exceptional servants. Luis H. Cantilo passed away after a lengthy illness, in Austin, Texas, surrounded by Yvonne, his loving wife of more than half a century, and his six children. Born in Berne, Switzerland on November 10, 1928, to Uruguayan diplomat Luis Herrera and his wife, Maria Cristina Cantilo, Luis was educated initially in Switzerland and traveled as a youth throughout Western Europe. He returned to the family’s traditional home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and completed his studies, receiving his degree in telecommunications engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. He married Yvonne Cantilo and, over the span of 17 years, fathered six children in Santiago, Chile, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Miami, Florida, each of whom they raised to follow his or her heart and conscience in the endeavors they have chosen. Luis’ professional life was one of outstanding pioneering accomplishments. He distinguished himself throughout as both a caring and inspiring college educator, and as an enlightened and insightful researcher. He was deeply involved in the evolution of radar meteorology during its infancy in Argentina, climate control in the Caribbean, environmental impact and modeling in the U.S., and the development of systems for the NASA Space Shuttle. He was admired as much as an academician and scientist as for his nurturing, humorous, and motivating nature by his students in Buenos Aires and Miami and research colleagues throughout the world. He is survived by his wife, Yvonne, and by his six children and seven grandchildren, Patrick Cantilo (Austin) and his sons Lieutenant Michael Cantilo (U.S.N., Washington D.C.), Daniel Cantilo (San Antonio), and Nicholas Cantilo (Austin), Cristina Herrera (Austin), Xavier Herrera (Austin), Diego Cantilo (Roanoke, Virginia) and his son Jeremiah Cantilo (Richmond, Virginia), Stephanie Brown (Austin) and her husband, David Brown and his son Christian Brown, and Phillip Cantilo (Alpharetta, Georgia), his wife Joy and their children Jackson, Mia, and Isabel. He leaves behind as well innumerable cousins and relative in the U.S., Argentina, and other parts of the world. The enormous void he leaves can be filled only in infinitesimal part by the wealth of treasured memories created during humorous, entertaining, educational, and at time challenging days while he lived in Bern, Paris, Rome, London, Buenos Aires, Miami, Mississippi, Houston, Rockledge (FL), Huntsville (AL), Atlanta and Austin. His travels brought him to many more places, each of which he determined to understand as typically do only those who have lived there. He found in each trip and each undertaking not just a new adventure but an opportunity to learn that he cherished deeply. “Renaissance Man” is an informal title much assigned but never more deservingly than in his case. Music, politics, history, geography, natural and applied sciences, mathematics, the arts, and the unique attributes of the human character were but a few of the realms with which he succeeded in gaining enviable familiarity. These accomplishments were certainly impressive, but they paled in comparison to the love, patience, generosity and caring guidance he reserved for his family and close friends. For these none of us can thank him enough and each of us is a better person for our fortune in having been in his life. We entrust him now to the loving arms of God who has no doubt already prepared for him a list of new undertakings that he will embrace with joy and unrelenting spiritual devotion. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at three o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 8th of October 2010, at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 4311 Small Drive, Austin, with Msgr. Bill Brooks as celebrant. A reception will follow at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin. Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.