Luis German Obituary, Lenape High School Teacher, Luis German Has Died – Death
Luis German Obituary, Death – He is survived by his wife, Thusnelda M. Valdes-Mencio; their four children, Cecilia Valdes, Maria Zaayman and her husband Johan, Luis Valdes and his wife Brenda, and Ignacio Valdes and his wife Corazon; his two sisters, Marcela Moenke and Pillar Roetteger; and his grandchildren. 14 grandchildren, including Helsen, Meiling, Eric, and Michael Valdes; Luis I., Thomas, and Benny Valdes; 6 great-grandchildren; and a large number of nieces and nephews.
Alex and Emily Rutledge; Emilio and Toni Zaayman; Nicole Gutierrez; Summer Trevino; Haily Foytik; Luis I., Thomas, and Benny Valdes. His sisters Magdalena, Milagros, and Josephina, as well as his son-in-law Michael Rutledge and great-grandchild Jordan Gutierrez, passed away before him. Luis G. Valdes was well-known for his lively stories, excellent surgical skill, wonderfully broken English, and his love of family, God, and country. He was also known for his devotion to all three.
His parents were German Valdes and Josefa Larralde de Valdes, and he was born on March 27, 1923 in the city of Yaguajay in Cuba. He had a happy childhood in the countryside of Cuba, which he treasured throughout his life. He often reminisced about his time spent as a child at “Las Cuevas de Valds,” or “The Caves of Valdes,” on the family farm, which is now a significant landmark in a national park in Cuba. It brought a smile to his face to learn that there was still activity there from the neighborhood children.
Before graduating from Beln Jesuit High School in Havana, Cuba in 1939 at the age of 16, he attended the Maristas Champagnat boarding school. While there, he was heavily influenced by the fact that he was a member of the Agrupacin Catlica Universitaria organization. In 1946, he graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Havana, where he also completed his surgical internship at the Havana University Hospital. He was awarded his doctorate in medicine. He received a fellowship that allowed him to study for two years at the Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. During that time, he worked alongside renowned surgeons at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Free Hospital for Women in 1951 and 1952. He also spent time at the Mayo Clinic and the Lahey Clinic during this period.