He was born and raised in Caibarién Cuba, where he spent an idyllic childhood sailing, fishing, avoiding mathematics classes. A math genius, Manuel earned a PhD in higher mathematics from the University of Havana and an additional graduate degree in tropical meteorology at the University of Chicago, where he and his wife Frances spent a cold winter in 1943.


Manuel was recruited by Howell Associates as a young man in Cuba, and went on to work for the American company in Colombia, where they lived for many years. Manuel was copilot on test flights seeding clouds with iodide crystals to make rain—work that continues to this day. He loved to tell the story of how his pilot Bob Gifford (Sky King) crashed the plane while doing stunt tricks trying to impress an Indian Chief that they had brought on board. Lost in miles of Amazon wilderness they managed to trek to a village and eventually contact the US Army, which had to remove the aircraft at great expense. The Indian was unhurt.


Manuel and his family eventually settled in Bedford MA and he went to work for the Mitre Corp, swapping the Andes for tranquil New England. He was always up for an adventure or challenge and completed many Boston marathons and summited most of the White Mountain Peaks. Manuel completed the Mount Equinox race in up-state New York, one of the early off-road endurance races, where he placed first in his age group. Manny loved camping with his daughters and wife and visited as many national parks as you could name, but perhaps his greatest adventures were reserved for voyages in his 1987 Vanagon Camper. Manny and Frances made 3 different trips to Alaska, including seeing the Grizzlies on Kodiak Island, one trip to the Yucantán to see the monarch butterfly migration and visit Copper Canyon, and a ride to the tip of Baja California for the Total Eclipse of 1991.


Passionate about quantum physics, and the unpredictability of non-linear systems, he was a natural teacher whose enthusiasm for the wonders of science enlightened everyone around him. A devoted and doting grandfather, he dedicated his retirement to enjoying his family and pursuing recreation and travel, as well as building and maintaining two mainframe computers with a dot matrix printer, running DOS. Despite encouragement from his daughter Mary, he never did master a PC.


Manuel was a true original, and lived life on his own terms. He was generous to everyone he met and made friends in all parts of the globe, as well as the local pharmacy and post office, where he had many good friends. Papi was always prepared with a Swiss Army Knife and a wallet full of BandAids. There wasn't anything that scared him, and no problem that he couldn't fix. His own mortality was deeply intolerable to him, and he fought hard to live. He beat back death many times in his life, and we all expected him to do it again. We mourn his loss with unfathomable sadness.


He is survived by his wife Frances, to whom he was married to for 72 years, as well as his daughters Mary and Melinda, and granddaughters Maxine and Madeleine.

Visitation at the Bedford Funeral Home, 167 Great Rd., Bedford, Wed., July 9 from 3:00 to 6:00 P.M. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Bedford Council on Aging, 10 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA 01730 or to Running Strong for American Indian Youth @ www.indianyouth.org. For obituary and directions please visit www.bedfordfuneralhome.com