emilito.org

This site will comprise

• family histories, stories, legends, pictures, etc.,
  
• family trees,
• rugby histories,  stories, legends, pictures, odds and ends, and
  
• as I am trying to emulate my hero Miguel de Unamuno and create a  web site that is "vivíparo,"  not even I know what will be found in this folder of  miscellany.

Who is Emilito?

Officially known to all American friends and relatives as Emil Signes, the title character of this web site was “Emilito” to his parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and decades later remains so at least to all his Cuban relatives (both within and without that beautiful and unfortunate island); to his Valencian father he was often "Emiliet." His ancestral line not only travels through Cuba and Spain but also branches off into Italy.

Emilito is married to Heide Ruppel, a native of Germany (born in Worms and raised in Braunfels an der Lahn (Hessen), and they have four children - Carmita married to Kip Desch, Heide the Younger, Stephen and Ricardo married to Gloria Hestle - and four grandchildren, Jacob, Anika and Matthias Desch, and Martha Signes.  Many of Heide's ancestral lines can be traced centuries back within Germany.  Only with the arrival of the in-laws do any American ancestors enter the family picture.

The following photos show Emilito at various phases in his life, with and without family members at his side.

Sometimes Emilito is happy for small favors.