Fifth Generation

63. Manuel (Manny) LAGOS BESTEIRO⁸⁶ was born on 15 August 1911 in Valdemoro, Madrid, Spain.¹⁵⁶ Full name: Manuel Francisco Ricardo Napoleón LAGOS BESTEIRO. Born at Plaza del Esparto, 3, which was temporarily the home of Joaquín GRACIANI LORENZO, brother of his grandmother Victorina. ([Joaquín . . . domiciliado en esta localidad accidentalmente, Plaza del Esparto número tres.] He traveled from Spain to Cuba with his parents and older sister Carmen in 1912 . While on board ship, he became very sick and his mother was told by the ship's doctor that he was unlikely to survive the journey. Somehow, she found a wetnurse (nodriza) on board the ship, and this wet nurse (whose photograph is in this database) suckled Manolo back to health, to the point where it was noted that he had a ruddy complexion by the time the boat arrived in Cuba.

He immigrated in September 1912 to New York, NY, USA.⁹³ He sailed on the S.S. Saratoga with his mother and sisters Carmen and Victorina. Manuel lived for 3 years as a child between 1916 and 1919 in Havana, Cuba.^{89,95,121,157} Explanation: after the death of his two siblings, Antonio and Dolores, who had been born in New York, his mother -- accompanied by Manuel and his sisters Carmen and Victorina -- returned to Cuba where she felt safer with child. His sister Dolores Emilia Manuela was born here in 1917. On their return, he was diagnosed with pink eye and was not allowed on the boat with the rest of his family. His mother, heeding the warnings of her husband that the US was about to declare war (World War I was raging in Europe) and that she would not be allowed to return if that happened, took the other three children and left Manuel. (They arrived in the US on 2 April and the US declared war on Germany 4 days later.)

He stayed, therefore, in Havana, where he lived with his grandmother, and went to school there. He left Havana on 9 October 1919, when he returned home, via Baltimore, on the S.S. Alfonso XIII, with his Uncle Manuel. It was in Havana that he became acquainted with Oscár (Oscarito) GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, who was later to visit the US and attend school in Paterson. (On New Year's Eve 1958/59 Oscár would escape from Cuba on the same plane as Fulgencio Batista).

He was naturalized on 18 June 1925.¹⁵⁸ This did not keep him from the attempted clutches of Spain. A 10 Sept 1925 letter from the Spanish Consulate in NY reads " . . . no hay lugar a la mas leve duda. Usted es hijo de padres españoles y ademas ha nacido Vd. en España, y por lo tanto, aun cuando su padre se haya hecho ciudadano americano, ello no le exime a Vd de tener que cumplir sus deberes militares en su Patria que es España". (There is not a shadow of a doubt: you are the son of Spanish parents and were born in Spain, and therefore, although your father has become an American citizen, this does not exempt you from having to complete your duties in your fatherland which is Spain) . . . which of course he never did.

Between 1936 and 1977 he was an employee of Bright Star Battery Company in Clifton, Passaic County, NJ, USA. He joined Bright Star as a clerk in the export department, and worked his way up to assistant office manager, office manager, and comptroller. Manuel retired in 1977 in Clifton, Passaic County, NJ, USA.

He died on 2 October 2000 at the age of 89 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. He was active in community affairs throughout his life. .¹⁵² At various times over the years he served as athletic director of St. Mary's High School; treasurer of the Paterson Catholic Conference; president of the Clifton Chamber of Commerce; treasurer of Paterson-Hawthorne CYO; president of Totowa Borough PAL. He was a member of the Bergen-Passaic Health Services Agency, and served a chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Passaic County Community College. He was president of the Passaic County Community College Foundation and trustee of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, St. John's Cathedral and Holy Sepulcher Cemetery. He was on the board of the Boys' Club of Paterson, the Liceo Cubano, and the New Jersey State Organization of Cystic Fibrosis. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, and was on the Hispanic Commission of the Diocese of Paterson and a committee of the Paterson Community Support Fund.

"When I think of Mr. Lagos, I remember the stirring words employed by the ancient Romans to characterize their most illustrious Caesar, 'If you want to see his monuments -- look around.' Look around my friends; not even the blind could fail to see the enormous contributions of this good and decent man." -- Gustavo A. Mellander, President, Passaic County Community College.

Dolores BALL [m. Carr] in 1992, wrote of "Uncle Mannie, who was always there for anyone who needed him, often before they knew they needed him . . . Whatever the problem, it was always expected that Uncle Mannie would solve it -- and he always did."

Manuel (Manny) LAGOS BESTEIRO and Eileen Marie QUIGLEY were married on 15 August 1935 in Suffern, NY, USA. This "north of the border" marriage was secret; so secret that virtually no one knew about it for more than a year after the recorded date.

Eileen Marie QUIGLEY^86,159, daughter of Matthew Francis (Pop) QUIGLEY and Rose Ann (Muzzy) HUGHES, was born on 22 May 1913 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. She was educated at St. Bonaventure High School and graduated about 1931 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. She was educated at the Packard School about 1933 in New York, NY, USA.¹⁶⁰ In 1936 Eileen was an accountant in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA.¹⁶⁰ She died on 14 February 1998 at the age of 84 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. White Birch Nursery Home.

Dolores BALL (Carr) wrote in 1992 that Eileen "survived a household with five men with her wonderful sense of humor. Sitting at the piano, she was always the life of the party. . . Aunt Eileen served her family healthy foods long before the rest of the world caught on."

Manuel (Manny) LAGOS BESTEIRO-90 and Eileen Marie QUIGLEY-97 had the following children:

134	i.	Richard LAGOS ** was born on 28 August 1937 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA. He died on 28 August 1937 at the age of 0 in Paterson, Passaic, NJ, USA.161 Per Tony LAGOS, died about 9 hours after his birth. According to Carmen LAGOS BESTEIRO [m. Signes], he died due to immunity problems. He was delivered by Dr. Cosmo Riccobono; during the next 35 years, the majority of Lagos descendants will be delivered by "Dr. Ricky". Specifically: Richard LAGOS (1937), Anthony LAGOS (1938), John LAGOS (1940), Emil SIGNES (1940), Geraldine LAGOS (1943), Charles LAGOS (1944), Manuel LAGOS (1944), Gerard LAGOS (1946), Carmen SIGNES (1946), Katherine BALL (1947), Joseph GOETZ (1947), Richard SIGNES (1947), Marjorie GOETZ (1950), Mercedes BARON (1951), Patricia BALL (1954), Jeff LAGOS (1966), Tracey VREELAND (1966), Tammy VREELAND (1967), Greg VREELAND (1969), Stephanie VREELAND (1970).
+135	ii.	Anthony Kevin (Tony) LAGOS-164.
+136	iii.	John Manuel (Jack) LAGOS-165.
+137	iv.	Manuel Gerard (Buzz) LAGOS-166.
+138	v.	Gerard Matthew (Jerry) LAGOS-167.