Raul Antonio Cruz

Raul Antonio Cruz, 80, of Fort Myers, FL, returned to be with God, on Wednesday morning, April 1, 2020.  Born on May 25, 1939 in Caguas, Puerto Rico he was the son of the late Zacarias and Gregoria Cruz.  

Raul is survived by his beloved wife of 52 years, Carmen Miriam Cruz, along with two loving children, Melissa Cruz of Fort Myers and Alejandro Cruz (Ines) of Buford, GA;  his five beautiful grandchildren, Daniel, Chris, Alexa, Alana, and Amelia;  sister Mary Amador of Milltown, NJ and brother Jose Cruz (Carmen) of Kissimmee, FL;  DayWu their dog who idolized him, Maya and Rosie the grand furdogs.  He is adored by his nieces and nephews, sister in-laws, brother in-laws and many friends from the NY Times of 36 years, New York, New Jersey and the Pine Ridge community.

Raul was a devout Catholic who attended mass on a weekly basis at St. Vincent De Paul Church in Fort Myers. He had a great sense of humor who always made people laugh and quite the prankster.  He is definitely known for countless pranks he played on family, friends, colleagues, sadly, passing on April Fools Day was not one.  A veteran, Raul was proud to serve the United States Army and enjoyed talking about his time in Schwaback, Germany, his hometown of Caguas, PR and its history.  Raul loved to watch and discuss boxing, bowling and jogging.  He bowled in a team on a weekly basis and jogged daily.  He started jogging while living in NY and ran several races.  Family vacations were fun times camping in NJ and later traveling to Las Vegas and cruising with his wife, Carmen.  Raul was extremely artistic and had created beautiful paintings and drawings in oil, acrylic, water color, pencil and chalk; wood sculptures; wood burnings and glass etchings on bottles as well as domino tables.  Was always proud of his work but Raul would never have it displayed in an art gallery as many had suggested.  Not only was he artistic, he was also very handy and in the backyard of his house in Brooklyn, NY, he built a shed, his haven where he created many of his masterpieces. 

Memorial Mass will be held 11:00AM, Saturday, November 7, 2020 at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 13031 Palm Beach Blvd, Ft. Myers, FL  33905 with Rev. Dr. Murchadh O'Madagain officiating.  

Memorial Contributions in memory of Raul Antonio Cruz are suggested to St. Vincent De Paul Church, 13031 Palm Beach Blvd, Fort Myers,  FL  33905 or to the St. Jude Foundation, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Mullins Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Fort Myers, is entrusted with final care.