Obituary of Alfonso Rojo

ROJO LUCIO, Dr. Alfonso - age 96, son of the late Eustasio Rojo and María de la Concepción Lucio, passed away peacefully in his home in Halifax on Tuesday, August 15th, 2017. Dr. Rojo was born on January 22, 1921, in Burgos, Spain, living just down the street from the great gothic Cathedral of Burgos of which he was so proud. At a young age, he demonstrated a magnificent mind and attended the La Salle Brothers Monastery boarding school in Bujedo, near Burgos. At the age of 17, he was ordained a monk and became a teacher in the same monastery school, where he taught Math, Physics, Latin, and Spanish. Before the age of 20, he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Valladolid. In his mid-twenties, he attended the University Complutense of Madrid, and graduated with a Master of Science Degree. This is also where he met his future wife, Enriqueta. At 32, he left the Order and went to work for the Spanish government as the Biologist on board Spanish fishing vessels. A few years later, he began working for the Canadian government in the Fisheries Department. He fell in love with this land, so he brought his new wife from Spain to start their new life together in Canada. They lived in St. John’s for almost two years where their son, Alfonso Eric, was born; then moved to London, Ontario, where Enrique José was born. He decided to return to his original profession of teaching and accepted a position of Associate Professor in Biology at Saint Mary’s University. There he founded the Biology Department and was instrumental in establishing the Faculty Union. His wife became the first woman professor at Saint Mary’s where they worked across the hall from each other for the next 27 years. During two of those years he was on Sabbatical working on a special project with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in Mar del Plata, Argentina. This is where their third and only daughter, Mónica, was born. Upon his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus, maintaining an office at the University and continuing his investigative research and to publish into his 90’s. His retirement years were spent studying Russian, Greek, Italian, Arabic, Slovak, Creative Writing, researching with the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, writing and publishing his memoirs, contributing to Spanish language textbooks, and spending time with his family. He especially enjoyed his time spent with and mentoring his grandchildren. He taught his children and grandchildren to work hard, do their best, and to be curious about everything the world has to offer. His philosophy was ‘everything in moderation’ and ‘never hurry while you are doing but never stop doing.’ A lover of languages, history, sciences, art, music, writing, travelling, a good joke, and much more – he was always an inspiration to those who had the privilege of a one-on-one conversation with him. He was truly a Renaissance Man. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Enriqueta Unturbe Rojo; sons, Alfonso Eric Rojo and Enrique José Rojo; daughter, Mónica Maria-Isabel Rojo; grandchildren, Patrick, Daniela, Eric, Christopher, Juan Carlos, and Elena. In keeping with Alfonso’s wishes, there will be no visitation. A Funeral Mass will be held on Monday, August 21 at 10 am at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1725 Oxford Street, with a reception to follow in the Church Hall.