Rodolfo Careaga

Rodolfo "Rudy" Careaga, age 56, went to be with the Lord on February 2, 2017. Rudy was born in Havana, Cuba on June 17th, 1960, son of Rodolfo Valentino Careaga and Elia Gutierrez-Martinez.

Rudy left Cuba as an infant in 1961 with his mother and two siblings, leaving behind his beloved grandmother Agustina Martinez who called him her little "chubby roster" with such love. The family migrated from Miami, Florida to St. Louis, Missouri, then eventually in 1963, made their home in New Orleans, Louisiana where Rudy grew up and attended school. Extremely intelligent, Rudy attended a school for gifted and talented, Benjamin Franklin High School. He discovered his love for languages at an early age, by the age of sixteen he wrote a complete essay in French for a Bastille Day competition that was held statewide, and won first place which entitled him to spend a year in Belgium as an exchange student. He spoke, read and wrote fluidly in three languages; Spanish, Portuguese, French, and also spoke and understood Russian, Arabic, and Finish. He loved traveling and lived in Helsinki, Finland were he combined his skills for education and languages, and taught English as a second language at the University of Helsinki.

Rudy graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Linguistics in 1986. Doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Curriculum and Instruction.

His professional life was dedicated to education, bettering the education system for teachers and students. He worked with the National Education Association (NEA) in Washington, DC for 10 years, until 2015 when the program ended. He authored the PEN Annual Member Survey 2004 Report; Teacher Enhancement in Elementary Mathematics, Beyond Inquiry-Based Mathematics Instruction (Final Report in the National Science Foundation and to the Public) Cleveland Education Board Fund, 1999; Co-authored A Public Ownership of Public Schools: A Map of Current Trends in Public Engagement in Public Education, Reform. PEN Washington, DC 2004.

He was a member of various boards and committee of education; The American Association of School Libraries, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Actions, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the New Education Partnership, Alliance of Public School Foundations, Inc., Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center. Rudy was an ordained minister of the Arlington Metaphysical Church, he helped many with kindness and respect.

His love for his mother, who had dementia, and his care of her until his passing was the most selfless act that a human being could do. He cared for her with patience, compassion, tenderness, even when it was most difficult for him, he persevered. He studied whatever materials were available regarding dementia, looked for answers to why this was happening not only to his beloved mother but to many others. He was her sole caregiver and it took a toll on his wellbeing.

Rudy is survived by both parents, sisters and a brother; Maria Stephens, Cristina (John) Caputo, Rafael Careaga, Jennifer (Alan) Ridgon, Ana (Danny) Garcia, and 9 nieces and 1 nephew.

Service will be held on Saturday, June 17th, 2017 at the Resurrection Cemetery Chapel, 2705 Regent St, Madison, WI 53705, at 11:30 am in Madison, Wisconsin.

We ask respectfully that in lieu of flowers a donation can be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation
http://www.alzfdn.org/Donation-Page/donate-to-find-a-cure-for-alzheimers-disease.html

His faith kept him humble, his love kept him strong, and now God will keep him forever in eternity.
We will all miss you Rudy, until we meet again.