Born:
Died: 12/13/2018
Brother Rafael G. Martin died on Thursday, December 13, 2018. He was 94 years old, and was a Marist Brother for 77 years. Born in Cruces, Cuba in 1924, but raised in Yaguajay, Las Villas, Br. Rafael entered the Marist Brothers’ Juniorate in Cienfuegos in 1938 and continued his religious formation in Espira de l’Agly, France until he entered the Novitiate.
He moved to Pontos, Spain during World War II. In 1943, Br. Rafael began teaching elementary school in Cienfuegos, and from 1944 until 1957 he was assigned to teach at Champagnat School in Havana. When the Marist Brothers left Cuba in 1961, he worked until late 1962 in Colombia until he was transferred to Miami to work with “Pedro Pan”, a work he later continued in Lincoln, NE.
Since 1965, Br. Rafael has worked at Marist High School in Bayonne, NJ, Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, FL, Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico, and as director of religious education in Las Vegas, NM. His final ministry before retiring in 1995 was as a librarian at Columbus High School.
Br. Rafael coordinated the Cuban Marists Alumni, an activity he began in 1969. In 2009, he published Colegio Champagnat de la V¡bora, 1915-1961 and Presencia Marista en Cuba, 1903-1961.
Brother Rafael is survived by his sisters Pura and Julia, his brother Carlos, a large family and his Marist community.
