Ramon Santiago-Villalba

Ramon L. Santiago-Villalba

On May 6th, Master Sargent Ramon L. Santiago-Villalba accepted his final duty assignment and walked peacefully into the afterlife.

Ramon was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and would fondly reminisce of working in the sugar cane fields and the many misadventures he would find himself in, before moving to the Bronx during his early childhood.

He began his proudest life's work just before the Vietnam war. Ramon served in the U. S. Army for over 30 years and received 3 Purple Hearts during his years of service in the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division. The military was his greatest mission and anyone who spoke to him knew just how proud he was of it.

In 1995, he retired as Master Sargent and moved to Maine. He could never stop moving, so you could find him biking from the Bangor area to Bar Harbor during the summers or walking to and from various shops in Old Town. When he did find time to rest, you could find him reading one of his many thousands of books on history, military history, and anything written by J. R. R. Tolkien.

He is survived by his children, Tzeitel Santiago-Rosario, Ari-Ben Santiago-Rosario, Canda (Stephen) Metropoulos; and her mother, Kelly Santiago; his niece, Eileen Gonzalez; grandchildren, Jean Paul Alvarez Santiago, Zyaris Alvarez Santiago, Sebastian Metropoulos; and great grandchild, Diego González Alvarez.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Juanita Villalba and Victor Santiago; his sister, Milagro Santiago; his brother Victor (Deliah) Santiago; his nephews, Vito and Pablo Santiago; and both maternal and paternal grandparents.