Eutimio Alonso, Ph.D, died on Friday, January 26, 2018 after a long twilight struggle with diabetes and related complications. He was 89. He died at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts after his health took a turn for the worse in early November.
Born and raised in Donadillo, Zamora, Spain on March 11, 1928, Alonso had an interesting and uncharted life journey. At the age of 12 Alonso joined the Seminary at the Monasterio de Santa María de la Vid in Spain. He was ordained a Catholic priest and served in his vocation until the age of 42.
During his time as a priest Alonso, a true academic, pursued his studies in theology and literature attaining his doctoral degree while teaching as a professor at the University of Villanueva in Havana, Cuba where he lived for over 6 years.
This period was a pivotal and impactful time in his life because Fidel Castro took power and forced Alonso and other foreign born Catholic priests out of Cuba. Alonso came to the United States where he founded a Cuban Relief Fund helping refugees fleeing Cuba in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
In 1970 after receiving the Papal dispensation, he married and is survived by his beloved wife of 47 years, Carmen Dora Alonso.
He moved to Brockton and became a teacher at Brockton High School in 1973 where he began teaching Latin then Spanish and finally bilingual studies until his retirement in 1995.
He was devoted to his family and in addition to his wife, he is survived by his two daughters and their families. Carmita Alonso is an attorney in New York City and lives with her husband Edward Estrada and their two boys Teddy and Harry Estrada in New York. Ana Alonso DelPico is a teacher in Brockton and lives with her husband Daniel DelPico and their two girls Maria and Gabriella DelPico in Brockton.
He was the son of the late Ana Maria Fernandez and Ceferino Alonso and the brother of the late Rev. Isaias Alonso and the late Juan Jose Alonso. Alonso leaves behind his brother, Enrique and sisters, Angeles, Isabel and Juliana Alonso in Spain.
His love for his home country and his experiences in Cuba and his final home in America are captured in his prolific writing. He authored 4 published books: Caña Roja, Una Saeta Para Felipe, Amor y Muerte Bajo el Roble and La Fuente Encantada.
His passion for literature and particularly Cervantes live on in his published and myriad of unpublished works and in the lives of all of the people his gentle soul touched.
Visiting hours will be held in the Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont St (Rte 123), Brockton on Sunday, January 28, 2018 3-7pm. The funeral procession will gather at the funeral home on Monday at 9am for a funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Church at 10am. Burial in Calvary Cemetery.