Dear Ivis,

I do remember hearing someone I knew in Miami tell me that he knew and fondly remembered an young man with the last name Owen in Havana. He seemed to have been a friend from school. When I remember who told me this, if I can locate him, I will let you have whatever information he gives me. Probably, that Owen man is in his forties, as was the person who told me.

I apologize for the gap in my memory. I talked to so many people in Miami, and at times people do mention the Owen name because it is unusual for a Cuban.

In my case, I derived my citizenship from both my father and mother, so immigration gave me that hyphenated last name. My brother always used Diaz-Owen, in any case.

I will see what I can do to help you in your search for your family. It is possible that your name might also be spelled with a "cc" instead of "ch" in its Italian version.

Remember in your research to include communities outside of Cuba, such as Key West, Tampa, even Jacksonville. I was quite surprised to find an Hierrezuelo who joined the United States military in World War I, from Jacksonville. There were Cubans in other cities, who travelled there with cigar factories, and cigars were the biggest industry in Jacksonville at one time. So, my guess is that an Hierrezuelo travelled here, then joined the military from here.

I believe there is a Pazos or Pazo web page which is researching Key West, which was so close to Cuba. I lived there in the early 90's and know that they had a school owned by Cuba (the San Carlos institute) and many Cuban teachers. I also know that Tampa still has deep Cuban roots going back to the time of Jose Marti.

Goodbye,
Ines