Alejandro Morales

A celebration of life, achieving the American Dream

On Feb 18, 2023, Alejandro Morales, 99, of Ridgewood, passed away quietly with his wife, Maria, of 67 years at his side. He is survived by his daughter Alejandra and his son Luis and his wife Jane.

Alejandro was born on Jan 31, 1924, in Oruro, a small city in Bolivia. His childhood was not easy as he became an orphan at 8 years old. At age 8, he worked 6 days a week in the mines. Work left little to no time to become educated but he learned to read and write on his own. At a young age, he learned that he had to work hard to survive.

In the early 1950s, he met Maria, in Buenos Aires, who would become his loving wife of 67 years. In 1963, Alejandro and Maria decided that they would move to the US. Alejandro came to the US, because the streets were “paved with gold”, as he had seen in the movies. He arrived in 1963 and worked, saving his money so that Maria and the children could come to the US in 1964. Hard work and saving money was an Alejandro truism.

Alejandro loved his children and worked as much as possible so his children would never experience any of the hardships that he had encountered when he was young. To Alejandra and Luis, he emphasized studying, saving and working hard to be the best at whatever you did.

Alejandro loved his grandchildren and was always proud of them and their achievements. His grandchildren, Andrea, Dennis, Matt, Chris, Megan and his great- granddaughter, Aveline, were very special to him. He felt he could never do enough for them.

To his friends, Alejandro was always happy, smiling and most of all always willing to help them in whatever they needed. He was an inspiration to us all.