Santiago Pujals

Santiago was born on November 17, 1934 to Santiago Pujals and Mercedes Gomez in Santiago, Cuba. He began his study of medicine at the University of Havana. After leaving Cuba in 1956, he continued his study of medicine in France at the Sorbonne - University of Paris and received his medical degree there in 1961. In Miami, Florida, he completed his residency in General Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in 1967. Thereafter, he began his practice of General Surgery at Mercy Hospital, where he was twice elected as Chief of Surgery.

In 1974, Santiago met his wife, Dalia Leon, while they were both working at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach. Santiago and Dalia went on to have two children together, Patricia and Christina. He also has a son, Santiago Pujals Jr., from a previous marriage.

In 2019, after nearly fifty years practicing as a general surgeon, he retired and spent his time doing the the things he loved: playing tennis with "the tenistas", drinking scotch and wine with his many treasured friends, travelling with his wife (usually to France), reading historical fiction and biographies, and spending time with his family.

He is survived by wife Dalia, his three children and their partners - Patricia and Santiago Eljaiek, Christina and Daniel Ronan, and Santiago Pujals Jr. and Maria Perez Rojas, his seven grandchildren - Sofia, Daniela, and Lucas Eljaiek, Jack and Patricia Ronan, and Alyssa and Tristan Pujals, his sister Teresita Spring, his brother Geraldo Pujals and many other close family relatives.

Services will be held on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Caballero Rivero Westchester, 8200 Bird Road, Miami, Florida 33155. A funeral mass will occur on Thursday May 25, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at Epiphany Catholic Church, 8235 SW 57th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33143. A committal service will occur Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North, 3260 SW 8th Street, Miami Florida 33186.