RAFAEL DIAZ DE LA ROCHA, 72
Escaped Cuba in the nick of time
BY ANI MARTINEZ
armartinez@MiamiHerald.com
The night the Cuban government was supposed to execute him for speaking
out against communism, Rafael Diaz de la Rocha donned a woman's wig and
a dress, and fled the island on a small wooden boat.
He had spent less than a year in prison for his protests when in 1962 he
was sent to his Santa Clara home for a last meal and last shower with
his family. He had other plans.
With help from friends and family, he disguised himself and snuck off
the island.
DAYS AT SEA
After seven days at sea and three days holding on to a wooden plank, he
washed up on the U.S. shore at Savannah, Ga., naked with third-degree
burns. That's how the Coast Guard found him.
Diaz de la Rocha, of Davie, died Feb. 10 from complications of
Parkinson's disease. He was 72, according to his daughter, Eunice Iglesias.
''My dad was a fighter,'' Iglesias said. ``He was naked because he tried
to make a sail from his clothes. He said he couldn't move his hands for
weeks because he held on to the wood so tightly.''
Diaz de la Rocha was born in the 1930s in Santa Clara, Cuba. He met and
married his wife, Aurelia Ramos, in the late 1950s.
In the 1960s, he moved from Savannah to Fort Worth, Texas, where he
lived for 15 years. He worked as an apprentice in a gas station learning
the trade. He eventually became a mechanic and bought his first of many
gas stations.
He moved to Florida less than 30 years ago to be closer to his wife's
family, and continued buying gas stations in Westchester and North Miami
Beach, and another near Miami International Airport.
He moved to Hialeah in the 1970s. For the past three years, he lived in
Davie with Iglesias, who took care of him.
''He only had a second-grade education and was able to own his own
business and support his whole family,'' Iglesias said. ``My mom never
worked. He was very proud and old school.''
ALWAYS WORKING
He worked seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. until he retired in 1992.
''If we wanted to spend time with him we would have to go to the gas
station,'' Iglesias said. ``He had all of his kids working there.''
Diaz de la Rocha was no stranger to hard work in Cuba, either. As a
young boy he sold kites on the street. He made them out of newspaper to
help support himself and his brothers and sisters.
''He never knew his father, and his mother was a single mother who
passed away when he was 13 years old,'' Iglesias said. ``He taught us
all through example to work and persevere and stick to it.''
With the little time he had to spare, Diaz de la Rocha worked on his
farm in Hialeah. On an acre of land, he grew different types of banana
trees, fruit trees, sugar cane and herbs.
''My brothers and sisters grew up going to the backyard and getting
herbs when we were sick,'' Iglesias said. ``Everything was a natural
remedy from the farm.''
His family will remember him as someone funny and charming, Iglesias said.
In addition to Iglesias, Diaz de la Rocha is survived by his wife,
Aurelia Diaz de la Rocha; another daughter, Dorcas Varela of Southwest
Miami-Dade; three sons, Danny Diaz de la Rocha of Coral Gables, Rafael
Diaz de la Rocha of Hialeah and Pablo Diaz de la Rocha of Kendall; 16
grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
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