Diana Aleman vividly remembers all of the people who used to crowd her small home in Decatur in the '60s. The people, many recently immigrated from Cuba, were there because her father, Luis Aleman, wanted to offer his countrymen and women a little advice, a bit of encouragement and a taste of home.
“It was a very lively place as a young child,” she said, remembering her childhood home. “And my father, his brother and a couple of other Cuban men who were already here, they would help new Cuban families get settled.”
For Mr. Aleman, getting settled included more than just finding a job and a place to live. He taught many how to drive and then how to buy a car. He even taught them how to negotiate the price of a car, “so they wouldn’t get stiffed,” his daughter said.
“He wanted them to be successful here,” Ms. Aleman said. “And he said they needed to know these things and he taught them, and us.”
Luis Carlos Aleman Sr., of Atlanta, died Saturday at Emory University Hospital from complications associated with pneumonia. He was 86. A funeral service is planned for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Floral Hills Funeral Home, which is also in charge of arrangements. Burial at Floral Hills Memory Gardens, will follow the service.
Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Mr. Aleman worked at a bank in Havana, where he met his wife. The couple married in 1950 and in 1962 they decided to pack up their two daughters and move to the U.S. They lived in Miami for two years, where they had a son, before deciding to move to Decatur, where there was a small, but active, Cuban community.
The family moved to the states because the Alemans knew their children would have more opportunities in the U.S. than in Cuba. He loved his homeland, but he didn’t like what was happening politically, his daughter said.
When they moved, Mr. Aleman spoke limited English, which rendered him unable to resume his career in banking. He was determined his children, and grandchildren, would not have the same problem. He insisted they all speak English and Spanish so language would never be a barrier to their success. To support his family, he turned his hobbies of carpentry and other types of handiwork into revenue streams.
“He sometimes worked three jobs because he was determined for us to have good educations and put us through college,” said Ada Marta Aleman, his daughter. “Earnings were slim back then, so he did what he needed to do, and sometimes that meant three jobs.”
And though he didn’t have much, he still found ways to help Cuban families new to the area. Carmen McMutcheon, who came to Decatur with her parents the same year as the Aleman family, remembers Mr. Aleman’s giving ways.
“He was incredibly humble and he had a great generosity,” she said. “And you didn’t know half of what he’d done for others because he didn’t talk about it. I’m finding out now because people are talking about all he did for them, now that he’s passed. It is incredible.”
Diana Aleman said there are people who have started businesses, purchased homes and gone on to do big things, because of her father’s influence.
“If you ask them how or why they’ve done these things, they will say, ‘Because Luis made me,’ or that he taught them how to do it,” she said.
Mr. Aleman is also survived by his wife of 61 years, Ada Lopez Aleman; son, Luis C. Aleman Jr. and two grandchildren, all of Atlanta.
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