Flavio Trujillo

 Flavio Cutberto Trujillo was born on March 20, 1934 in Santiago, Cuba to Zenaida and Raoul Trujillo. As a young adult, he sought a better life and freedom and immigrated to the United States. During the Vietnam War, he joined the United States Army, and served at a base in Germany. After his service, he resided in Washington Heights in Manhattan where he met Alba’s mother Albina Cintron who dwelled with her family in the same apartment building. She was known for her wit and humor, he enjoyed a good joke and had a hearty laugh. They became friends. It was Albina who introduced Flavio to her beloved daughter Alba. He was soon enamored and proposed. Alba and Flavio married in a beautiful ceremony, attended by her sister-in-law and brother, a niece, and several good friends. They were soulmates who cherished one another for over six decades and always addressed each other as “Darling”.

 They made their home, at first, in Manhattan where he and Alba worked at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. In their spare time, with big hearts and open arms he, Alba, and Alba’s mother helped many refugees from Cuba, as well as newcomers from Puerto Rico, seeking a better life on the mainland, to find housing and employment. If not for them, many would have had a much more difficult time resettling.

 Alba and Flavio once lived in Delaware where Flavio worked with parolees. It was there that he met then-attorney Joseph Biden (now President Biden), whom he regarded highly for his compassion for the less fortunate. 

 For a time, they also lived in south Florida but finally settled in Los Angeles near family. It was there that Alba was found to have an aneurysm. At the behest of his niece Charlene, Flavio contacted Senator Biden’s office. The senator called back immediately and urged him to contact a specialist he knew, who operated on Alba, saving her life. Flavio worked for many years working in the laboratory of Kaiser-Permanente where he was known for his strong work ethic, good humor, and famous punctuality, while caring for his wife.

 Patriotic and proud of his service in the army, Flavio and a friend booked a trip to Germany and to Normandy for a D-Day memorial service several years ago. Unfortunately, he contracted pneumonia and had to fly back to Los Angeles to be hospitalized. Flavio never fully regained his health. He started to predict that he would die at 90 (at the same age as his father) several times before his 90th birthday, but his devoted wife moved heaven and earth to get him the best care possible and he hung on. However, in early June he became bedridden and was admitted to hospice through Vitas. Fr. Domingo of Cristo Del Rey Roman Catholic Church visited him twice and performed the anointing of the sick. A few days later, attended by a hospice nurse, Flavio passed peacefully into the arms of Our Lord at home with his loving wife by his side. 

 For decades, he had been the faithful caretaker for his wife, his mother, and his brother, Joel, a policeman who had been paralyzed in a motorcycle accident. He also helped care for Alba’s elderly mother and aunt. Though residing in California, he and his wife never missed a birthday, baptism, or wedding even if it meant flying all over the country. He wore his late mother’s cross and chain till his passing. His depth of love for family and friends was immeasurable. And he never shied away from helping anyone in need.

 Flavio was a spirited conversationalist and an avid reader especially of books about World War II, Cuba, and current affairs, which he discussed with great insight. He devoured newspapers and watched MSNBC daily and he loved his dogs, Tom and Jerry and Beethoven. An avid traveler, he traveled to many states including Nevada, where he liked to play the nickel slot machines in Las Vegas and often won. Ever adventurous, he and his wife, with another couple, once rented an RV and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway, where there are no guardrails. He also visited many countries including Venezuela, Spain, Germany, Russia, and Cuba, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico during the Christmas season to celebrate his wife’s birthday. Alba and Flavio also made pilgrimages to shrines in Lourdes, France and Fatima, Portugal, sites of visitations by the Blessed Mother. His one unrealized dream was to see the pyramids in Egypt. 

 Flavio was sadly pre-deceased by his and Alba’s infant daughter Bettina Trujillo. His mother, father, brothers Raoul, Jr. and Joel as well as two of his brothers-in-law, Manny and Willie, two sisters-in-law Anne and Gloria, and two nieces Pamela (Chip Michniewicz), and Denise Cintron (Joseph Fedor) also pre-deceased him. He is survived by his loving spouse and best friend of 63 years, Alba Trujillo (nee Cintron), and nieces Dr. Maria Trujillo, Roxanne Cintron (Rev. Richard Patterson), Charlene Cintron (Vic Fekete), Penney Mason Stanch (Phil), Jennifer Moreira (Ernesto), nephews M. Gary Cintron and Juan Robinson, several grand-nephews, grand-nieces and cousins, many, many friends and his devoted assistants Maria Chavez and Rebecca Rodriguez. He was given compassionate care by nurses Jerry, Jane, and Rosa. All loved and admired him for his kind-heartedness and joie de vivre. 

 Family and friends are invited to attend the funeral service for Flavio on Friday, July 12, 2024 at 2 PM at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. Viewing will begin at 1:30 PM in the chapel, “The Little Church of the Flowers”.