Roberto Fernandez

Roberto Fernandez

My grandfather, Roberto Fernandez, was born on October 31, 1943. For his early years, he lived in Havana, Cuba with his father, Roberto Hipolito Fernandez, his mother, Maria, and sister, Nanette. They lived happily together until 1959 when the Cuban Revolution reached Havana. He recollects hearing “gunshots and knew there was some guerrilla warfare going on” which he later learned was Fidel Castro and his army of revolutionaries coming to power. When Castro took over the government in 1959, Roberto Hipolito Fernandez, my grandfather’s father, knew they would have to move from their home to the United States. The Fernandez family left in October of 1959 and left for Miami. My grandfather graduated from high school in Miami and then moved to California with his family to attend Pasadena Junior College and UCLA, where he earned his Master's in Art Education. During college, he met his wife Mary and started a family with two sons Robert and Peter. A few years later they moved to Sunnyvale, California, where Roberto worked for Hewlett-Packard in the marketing division. At Hewlett-Packard, he was given a job opportunity to move to Massachusetts. The Fernandez family then moved to the town of Harvard, Massachusetts. There, Roberto worked at Becker College, which just recently closed; he now works at Clark University as a College Instructor and lives in Needham, Massachusetts, a few streets away from his son Robert and a few towns over from his son Peter. Roberto Fernandez’s story is one of turmoil, perseverance, and success, and inspires me every day to reach for my goals and stop at nothing to achieve them.