Longtime Fairfielder & former Bacardi Chair Ruben Rodriguez Passes

Fairfield, CT -- Ruben Rodriguez passed away peacefully at home on May 5 after a long illness. Mr. Rodriguez was born on April 27, 1937 in Havana, Cuba to Ruben Rodriguez Walling and Maria Antonia Jorge.

Ruben was a proud graduate of the LaSalle School in Havana, and attended the University of Havana. He married Graciela Pujals in 1960, and came to the United States as his father pursued legal challenges to the legitimacy of the actions of the Castro regime. 

Mr. Rodriguez received his B.S. from the University of Houston, and he and his wife became U.S. citizens, and had two children, Grace and Susan. Mr. Rodriguez began his professional career on Wall Street, at Goodbody & Company, and worked for a series of consumer products companies in the area of global finance before joining Bacardi in 1989, later becoming CEO and Chairman of Bacardi. Bacardi experienced strong growth under his leadership, including the acquisitions of Grey Goose vodka and Cazadores blue agave tequila. 

After his retirement from Bacardi in 2005, Mr. Rodriguez dedicated his life to community service. He was an active parishioner of St. Pius X in Fairfield, CT, where he was a member of the Finance Council and assisted with the Capital Campaign Committee and the construction of the Faith Center and the Chapel dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. In addition to his service to his parish, he served on the Strategic Planning and Faith in the Future Committees for the Diocese of Bridgeport. In 2014, he was honored with the St. Augustine Medal by the Diocese of Bridgeport. He also joined the Board of Directors of St. Vincent's Health Services, and later became the first lay person to be elected as Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Rodriguez never lost his love for his native Cuba, and dreamed that his daughters and five grandchildren would someday return to the beloved farm of his childhood, El Curro. Throughout his life, he held dear the values and principles he was taught by the Christian brothers during his years at the La Salle School in Vedado, Cuba, which served as his guiding post and manifested themselves in every aspect of his life. He and Graciela were happily married for over 55 years, and were residents of Fairfield, Connecticut for 40 years.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Graciela , his daughters Grace and Susan, sons in law John Sullivan and Tony Deahl, and five grandchildren Jack, Evan, Katie, Cameron and Teddy, who will proudly carry forward his memory by living his example.

The wake will be held at the Chapel at St. Pius X at 834 Brookside Drive in Fairfield CT on Tuesday, May 10 from 5 to 8 p.m., with a funeral mass on Wednesday, May 11 at 10 a.m. at St. Pius X church. Burial will be in Oak Lawn Cemetery Fairfield. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Larson Funeral Home in Bridgeport, CT.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the St. Vincent's Cardiovascular Campaign Fund and directed to the St. Vincent's Medical Center Foundation, 2800 Main Street, Bridgeport CT 06606.