Dr. Ramon Magrans

Dr. Ramón Magráns passed away in the early morning of June 23, 2018, surrounded by his wife and children. Ramón was born in Santiago, Cuba and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. His contribution towards a kinder and more enlightened world was made through his decades of teaching and mentoring as a professor of Spanish language and culture, and later as a Spanish interpreter. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Carolyn, his children, Ray, Terri (Joe), Danny, Lenny (Carol), Christina (Matt), and Elena (Corey), his grandchildren, Christopher, Kyle, Gabriel, Luke, Lexi, Lily, and Nicolette, niece Sandy Littlejohn Berry (Drew), great-nephew Derrick, and great-nieces Isabelle and Sophie, and many family members still in Cuba.

Ramón was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1947 to Ramón Magráns and Berta Matilde. His father was a physician in Cuba, where he was frequently paid for his life-saving services in chickens, meals, goats, and pigs. Ramón enjoyed a comfortable life, spending his days biking to the corner store for chocolate and pan Cubano, climbing trees for coconuts, and collecting crab for dinners. His children spent countless evenings listening to him tell how, on the beaches of Siboney, he would go out late at night and early in the morning with a light to attract blue crab and collect them.

His life took a sudden turn when Castro assumed control of the government. His father would pay the rebels at the border with medicine and give the government border patrol money. This did not save Ramón from being taken to military camps at a young age. In order to prevent Ramón from being forced into military service, his father sent him to the United States.

Ramón came to the United States as a stranger in a strange land in the height of tensions between the US and Cuba. He carried with him a box of cigars, a bottle of rum, and his passport, the only items he was allowed to carry out of the country. His relatives were supposed to collect him at the Miami airport to help a scared pre-teen begin his life away from his parents and sister, but they never came, leaving him to find his own way in this new land, where he knew neither the customs nor the language.

He spent the first six months of his life on the streets of Miami, where neither black nor white community accepted him, as Miami was full of racial tension at the time. He continued to find his own way until a Catholic priest discovered him and brought him to a home for Cuban boys to learn English and await the arrival of his family. His mother, father, and sister arrived in 1962, when they were reunited.

While his father studied English to be able to pass the medical boards to again work as a physician, Ramón grew up, deciding to study psychology and Spanish in college to ensure others would never feel isolated by not knowing another language in a foreign land. He earned his undergraduate degree at East Texas State University and finished his doctorate in Spanish linguistics at Texas Tech University in 1980.

Ramón’s presence was always known and he left his own signature style on everything that he did. Early in life, he named his pet iguana after his sister and terrorized his teachers by leaving mice in their desks. Karma comes full circle, however, as he decided to make teaching his life’s work.

In Clarksville, Tennessee, Ramón began his professional life as a professor of Spanish and built within the Department of Languages and Literature one of the strongest bachelors and master’s degree programs in the state. Students considered it a mark of honor to receive his signature fast pitch (as a genuine Cuban southpaw) borrador. As he grew in his role as mentor and professor, Ramón established the study abroad program to Cuernavaca, Mexico. Hundreds of students accompanied him on these trips and, in so doing, Ramón was able to pass on his love of the Spanish language and Latino culture to countless generations. He was able to give so many people the gift of a second language—one of the many things that he left Cuba without.

In addition to advocating for his students, Ramón was a fierce advocate for the Latino community, constantly striving to bring awareness of the Latino culture in order to enrich the understanding of the value of cultural and global literacy for all his students and the community in which the university played a crucial role.

Later in life, Ramón worked as a Spanish interpreter for the courts and in medical settings, where he brought joy to the hearts of sick children and peace to the families, who, as he once was, were not able to communicate at their most vulnerable moments.

Ramón was fiercely loyal to his family and constantly pushed his children to succeed. At any point in a conversation, he would inevitably ask one of his children or one of his students, “Mijo/a, do you need anything?” because he never wanted his children or anyone else to struggle as he had.

A beloved husband, father, grandfather, and teacher, Ramón Magráns will never be forgotten. He started his young life as a stranger to this country, wandering the streets of Miami without community, family, money, or language, but he built a life that continuously uplifted all those he met—from his children to his students to his colleagues and even to complete strangers. Ramón enriched the lives of those he met and was a life-long advocate for the human graces—humanity, hospitality, and humor—the benefits of language learning and a cultivated understanding of the value of human diversity. He began his life in the United States with nothing and struggled to thrive, but he left every community he touched a more tolerant and understanding place. He will be greatly missed, but the world was made a better place by his presence.

A memorial celebration of Ramón’s life will be held Saturday, June 30th, at 1:00 pm at El Toro Restaurant at 200 Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville, Tennessee. A discounted hotel rate with the name “Magráns family” has been set up at the Riverview Inn for the weekend for those who need accommodations.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in memory of Ramón Magráns at the following address:

Arkansas Children’s Foundation

1 Children’s Way, Slot 662

Little Rock, AR 72202