Rubén Alfonso Cruz Priego
Premium memorialLovingly known as “Don Rubén”
21 February 1947 — 26 December 2019 · aged 72
Pemex platform foreman in the Campeche Sound and the man who led the blessing of the fleet
Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico Born in Frontera, Tabasco Resting at Panteón Municipal, Ciudad del Carmen, CampecheAbout Rubén
Don Rubén's work boots stayed by the front door of the house in Ciudad del Carmen for forty years, still smelling of diesel and salt, because he said a man who forgets where his work comes from forgets where his bread comes from.
Born in Frontera, Tabasco, in 1947, the son of a fisherman and a cacao-farm cook, Rubén studied petroleum technology at the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Madero and in 1970 signed on with Pemex. He spent thirty-five years working the offshore platforms of the Campeche Sound, rising to platform foreman in the Cantarell complex, where he taught three generations of young roughnecks to respect the gas, the weather and the safety manual, in that order.
Rubén worked fourteen days on and fourteen off, and the stories from his shifts became family legend: the winter norte storm in 1982, when he kept thirty men calm for two nights by organizing a dominoes tournament; the helicopter that landed on the wrong platform; the cook who mistook his hard hat for a pot lid. He never raised his voice, never cut a corner and never, his sons insist, lost a single game of dominoes.
At home he was a different man: a soft-spoken fisherman, a singer of boleros on the porch and a devotee of the Virgen del Carmen, patroness of the city and of all who work the sea. For twenty-two years he led the blessing of the fleet on her feast day in July, steering the first boat out into the Laguna de Términos with the statue lashed to the bow. He cooked pejelagarto better than anyone in Tabasco and fed whoever came to the door, including, once, a stray pelican.
Rubén died on 26 December 2019, aged seventy-two, at home in Ciudad del Carmen after a short illness, with his wife Elvia beside him and the sound of the sea through the window. He is survived by Elvia, his wife of forty-nine years; his children Rubén Jr., Carlos and Dalia; seven grandchildren; and a harbor of boats that flew their flags at half-mast the day he was buried.
“A man who forgets where his work comes from forgets where his bread comes from.”
- Faith
- Catholic
- Place of birth
- Frontera, Tabasco
- Resting place
- Panteón Municipal, Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche
- Passed away
- 26 December 2019, Ciudad del Carmen
Requiem Mass
Saturday, 28 December 2019 at 12:00 UTC
Add to calendarMemorial fund
Family support & maritime scholarship fund
Help the Cruz family with final expenses and fund a scholarship for children of offshore workers in Ciudad del Carmen.
$2,992.50 raised of $4,000
75%20 recent contributions
- WK
Wanjiru Kamau gave $71.25 · 6y ago
“With love, always.”
- JL
Jean-Pierre Lavigne gave $190 · 6y ago
- PO
Paco Ortega gave $47.50 · 6y ago
- DK
Dilip Kamble gave $47.50 · 6y ago
- DM
Dr. Esi Mensah gave $142.50 · 6y ago
“For the children's school fees.”
Life journey
Petroleum Technician Diploma
Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Madero1965 – 1969 · Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas
Studied drilling and production and learned to read a barometer like a newspaper.
Roustabout and Platform Hand
Pemex1970 – 1988 · Campeche Sound
Eighteen years on the first platforms of the Campeche Sound.
Married Elvia Pérez
1970 · Ciudad del Carmen
Forty-nine years, three children, one very loud rooster.
Platform Foreman, Cantarell Complex
Pemex1988 – 2005 · Campeche Sound
Led platform crews and trained a generation of young workers.
Leader of the Blessing of the Fleet
Parroquia de la Virgen del Carmen1983 – 2005 · Ciudad del Carmen
Steered the first boat of the July procession for twenty-two years.
Recognition for Thirty-Five Years of Service
Pemex2005 · Ciudad del Carmen
Presented by colleagues with a plaque and a pot of pejelagarto.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Rubén is survived by
- Elvia Pérez de Cruz· Spouse
- Rubén Cruz Pérez· Son
- Carlos Cruz Pérez· Son
- Dalia Cruz Pérez· Daughter
- 7 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Rubén.
Knew Rubén? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- TP
Cousin, Houston, Texas
I left Tabasco at nineteen to work the Gulf from the American side. Rubén visited once and refused to believe Houston had a harbor. “Where is the sea?” he asked. I took him to Galveston. He stood in the water, said it was the wrong color, and ate three kilos of shrimp.
- PC
Parish priest
Rubén carried the Virgen del Carmen on his shoulders every July and apologized to her for the weight. I told him she was lighter than a lifetime of prayer. He laughed for a week. Ciudad del Carmen will not hold a fiesta the same way without him.
- CP
Son
Papá never told us he loved us in words. He told us in diesel, salt and a hand on the back of the neck when we left for school. The day of the funeral every boat in the harbor flew its flag at half-mast. That is how I know he said it to everyone.
- ED
Platform colleague, Cantarell
Fourteen days on, fourteen off, and Rubén cooked for the whole platform on the last night of every rotation. Pejelagarto, rice, plantain. The kitchen smelled like Tabasco even in the middle of the Gulf. He made two hundred of us feel like family. I will never forget it.
- MV
Neighbor
He fed the stray cats, the stray dogs and, once, a stray pelican. Every Christmas he left a pot of pozole at our door and pretended it was from the Virgin. We knew. We loved him for the pretense.
- CZ
Boat captain, Laguna de Términos
Don Rubén led the blessing of the fleet for twenty-two years and never once let the Virgin get wet. On the water he spoke softly and every boat in the lagoon fell quiet to listen. He could read a storm from the color of the sunset. We lost our best weatherman.
