Hola Ines,

Yes, Orlando Fundichely (actor) is my first cousin, my dad's nephew.

I met him 7 years ago when he came to this country. Believe it or not, his father, my uncle, never told him about us (Communist). He may have been afraid, Lord only knows.

In any case, my aunt in Banes (my dad's family is from Oriente) visited Habana, and his mother, who told her that he was here. My aunt let us know and I contacted him. He was so happy to have family here. He felt very alone in those times.

He's doing quite well, and has been in several novelas. He brought his older brother, and now I have two Fundichely cousins in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the elder Fundichelys aren't good at keeping a family history. They don't know anything about the origins of the name.

There are many Fundichelys, mostly in Queto, Holguin, and Banes, but there's also a faction in the Habana province. These new cousins of mine have told me about them.

Five years ago Orlando was living in Lima and I got a chance to accompany my dad there so that he could see his brother after 32 years. It was a very important time in my life. I bonded with both my coursins and we found that we were very alike even though our upbringing was world's apart.

They have run into some Fundichelys in Florida as well. Although they don't know what is their lineage. I know that my great grandparents had five children and that those great aunts and uncles of mine had kids of their own, but my dad never kept in touch.

One day I hope to visit the country an possible search for some family.

Thanks Ines

Have a nice weekend.

Hola Ines,

Yes, Orlando Fundichely (actor) is my first cousin, my dad's nephew.

I met him 7 years ago when he came to this country. Believe it or not, his father, my uncle, never told him about us (Communist). He may have been afraid, Lord only knows.

In any case, my aunt in Banes (my dad's family is from Oriente) visited Habana, and his mother, who told her that he was here. My aunt let us know and I contacted him. He was so happy to have family here. He felt very alone in those times.

He's doing quite well, and has been in several novelas. He brought his older brother, and now I have two Fundichely cousins in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the elder Fundichelys aren't good at keeping a family history. They don't know anything about the origins of the name.

There are many Fundichelys, mostly in Queto, Holguin, and Banes, but there's also a faction in the Habana province. These new cousins of mine have told me about them.

Five years ago Orlando was living in Lima and I got a chance to accompany my dad there so that he could see his brother after 32 years. It was a very important time in my life. I bonded with both my coursins and we found that we were very alike even though our upbringing was world's apart.

They have run into some Fundichelys in Florida as well. Although they don't know what is their lineage. I know that my great grandparents had five children and that those great aunts and uncles of mine had kids of their own, but my dad never kept in touch.

One day I hope to visit the country an possible search for some family.

Thanks Ines

Have a nice weekend.
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Dear Ivis,

I found some interesting information at this web site:

www.cubagenweb.org/mil/mambi/search.htm

I sought Hierrezuelo family members and found many, many. I sought Owen family members and found some Oven, which is a common corruption of Owen. (We were sometimes told in Cuba that it was "supposed to be" Oven, my uncle even changed his name.) Included are Abraham, Carlos, Esteban.

I also found Fundichely spelled different ways. Look under the first letter of the last name. I even found an officer. Since you have not mentioned an officer in the Liberation Army, I assume this will be news for you. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised and proud of your patriotic roots.

By the way, it is noteworthy that the Oven persons were Oven Oven, which may indicate that they were part of that group in Matanzas which derived the last name from the Europpean Owen family.

Good luck,
Ines

Hola Ines,

Thank you very much for this information. It's quite exciting, although I don't know what to do with it, or how to find out more.

I guess the library will be a good start. Somewhere on this website I read information regarding a book that is in the New York Public Library. I'll start there.

Imagine, three Fundichelys. It's a very easy name to misspell, therefore I'm not surprised that two of them were logged in as Fundichel. Also, as you know, grammatical rules for proper names in Spanish are quite loose. You can actually spell names any way you like. Fundicheli, is very close, and, I've always assumed that the original European spelling included the Latin "i" in stead of the Greek "y". As you noted in a previous communication, it was probably something more like Fundicelli.

Also, one of my cousins who was in the merchant marine tried to find the name in Europe and traced it to some similar names in France, of all places.

Well, thanks again for your help.

Ivis

Dear Ivis,

With the information you have on the Fundichel/Fundichely, you can contact the Municipios del Exilio in Miami. There is one for Santiago de Cuba.

Typically, people from Santiago (Santiagoans?) love to tell old stories about the families they knew. They fussed about me when I was younger and attended a few times.

They might pinch you on the cheek as if you were a child again, tell you about how they knew your father when he wore a dress (they used to dress little baby boys in dresses until a certain age) and all about everyone's death.

As Key Westers, people from Santiago seem, in my opinion, to have an obsession with death. Key Westers walk by the cemetery for fun! Well, I am well-known with the Pazos and Diaz clan because my paternal grandfather, Angel Diaz, was born and died on the same date, January 28th, Jose Marti's birthday. I apologize, but it gets even more morbid. He was a carpenter, and he had already built his own coffin. He died at age of 36, so that was unusual. He was the brother of Ines Diaz Pazos, my aunt.

The people from Santiago are warm, they sing when they talk, almost similar to Mexicans (they even say "manita"). They will surround you with a feeling of home. I hope you also get to hear stories of the great struggle for Cuban independence. The Pazos family, the cousins with whom my father lived after he was orphaned by his father's death, savor every word they say. I love their Spanish, in fact it is so beautifully pronounced that it makes me self-conscious.

Please, be assured that the rewards of connecting with Santiago de Cuba roots are like tasting pineapple, like seeing the special blue of the Cuban sky, in your mind's eye, like being hugged by relatives you did not know you have, even when the strangers from Santiago. What am I saying, there is no such thing as a stranger from Santiago.

There is a fair of the "municipios" in Miami every year.

You "manita",

Ines

Hola,

I contacted the webmaster on the cubagenweb site regarding the three soldiers on their Mambi list.

I received a prompt reply explaining the origin of the list and where the original lists may reside (Habana, of course).

He promised to look up the soliers for me at a later date. He's moving to Florida and has packed up his archives.

That's a start, right?

I also found out that there's a Pedro Fundichely in Hiahleah. Pedro was the name of one of the soliders. One of my Fundichely cousins in Miami told me he ran into a man with the same last name a couple of years ago. However, Fundichelys are known for not knowing who were their ancestors, therefore, my cousin didn't get anywhere with this guy.

My coursin is also a very quiet and shy man who probably didn't ask the necessary questions.

I'm pretty excited to know that Fundichelys go back to the late 19th century. We don't know when they arrived in Cuba, but at least I know they were already there in 1895.

My parents and I will be in Miami in July. Perhaps I can convince the old man to visit the place you suggested.

Thanks for your help.

ivis

Dear Ivis,

My family on my father's side is also oblivious to its roots. My father just told me last weekend that my maternal grandmother had no brothers, no one to carry on the Hierrezuelo name. I later remembered that my mother would tell me of going to the opera house with her uncle on her mother's side. My father does not even know his paternal grandmother's name, says it may be Carey.

There is a gentleman named Ariel Pevide in Santiago de Cuba. I came across his name researching the troops who fought in the Spanish American War on the side of the United States (there was a rather valiant Owen, by the way, but again I have been unable to find a relationship) and he had a message stating something to the effect that he lives within walking distance of the cemetery and San Juan Hill.

His e-mail address is ariel@rpr.uo.edu.cu but I have not heard from him in a while. I was always very careful to limit my correspondence to nonpolitical, nonreligious issues and he did tell me he knew a few Hierrezuelos. He is no longer in the ancestry business, but maybe he can take a walk and tell you whether your ancestors are buried in the military cemetery.

Another acquaintance may be a cousin, he is an Hierrezuelo. His e-mail address is alexis@ecotur.com and he manages Ecotur in Brasilia, Brazil.

I am not advertising anything, you might want to look up the website so that you know what they are about. But, he does travel in and out of Santiago quite a bit and is planning to go there this summer to visit his clan.

I asked his permission before giving you his address. He said he personally would be of help if he can.

This is getting so exciting!

As far as the Owen clan, the chances are exactly the same as finding a needle in a haystack. The research has been both dramatic and traumatising. A particular lot, the Owen family. But I love them, they are still my blood. So far, a Colombian Owen with war medals to be traced, a Mexican poet Owen, an Owen killed by Pancho Villa, a lost Canadian Owen, a Canadian officer Owen Protheroe in Puerto Rico, Quaker Owens being disciplined for participating in war, among other items.Owens fighting for Britain, the North, the South, for Mexico and against it, Owen DNA projects, Owen slaves, Owen pirates (well, that is my conjecture), Owen who founded the Bentley car company, Owen who was grandfather to King Henry IV, the last prince of Wales Owen, Robert Owen who founded colonies and basically invented socialism (although he forced no one to "volunteer" for his experiments) and even more drama. No wonder the twinkling blue eyes.

I believe I may have a soap opera to write soon.

Ines

Hola Ines,

The Owen saga is quite the mystery. I'd love it if you let me know what else you find out.

Thank you for your help, but I don't want to bother anyone or take them out of their way.

I appreciate you're giving me the emails of your contacts, you are very sweet.

I will also try to grill my Miami cousins this summer and see if they heard anything growing up. They were in Cuba and one of them grew up very close to one of my father's Fundichely aunts. It's always been incredible to me that they don't talk about their family. My dad never does. I grew up with a grandmother who told us everything she knew. She told us about each of her brothers and sisters and her parents.

I guess that's where I get my natural curiousity for family history.

Thanks again,

ivis

Dear Ivis,

I have found a Fraticelli y Fraticelli family in Yauco, Puerto Rico. I was doing research on the Sanchez y Troche family of Yauco, (a coffee growing town in Puerto Rico), as I think there may be a Yauco factor in the Sanchez and Oben family of Puerto Rico.

I posted on the Fraticelli board, where there was mention of Italian Fraticellis. However, the family I found were from France. Please read my posting (a reply to a 2004 posting from a Fraticelli). I posted it today.

How are you doing on your search? I have found LIVING Fraticelli, including one listed under some organization of radio amateurs. Might be worth a Google search for you.

I have been having fun learning about the many immigrants who came to Puerto Rico to toil the land. They came from everywhere. Some were told: "Look, it's too late to get any flat land, it is all taken. So, go up, young man!" They planted coffee, they found some sort of discarded, abandoned machinery and made it into a coffee roaster, and now, they can look back on the history of some of the most expensive coffee in the world. I have been reading about the history of Ponce, Puerto Rico, too.

Cordially,
Ines (maybe "Mujer con Aroma de Cafe?" I do have coffee-color eyes.)

Dear Ms. Fundichely,

I have found an OBINE in New Orleans, born in Cuba.

Name: Camille OBINE
Age: 39
Estimated birth year: <1841>
Birthplace: Cuba
Occupation: Farm Laborer
Gender: Male
Father's birthplace: Cuba
Mother's birthplace: Cuba
Year: 1880; Census Place: 4th Ward, St. Bernard, Louisiana; Roll: T9_467; Family History Film: 1254467; Page: 289A; Enumeration District: 148; Image: 590.

He lived with Raphael LEON and they were both farm laborers.

There may be a relation to the OWEN as it was sometimes written as OBEN or as OBIN in some places. I had never come across the OBINE, although recently I read about OUBAIN in Haiti, probably related.

How is your search coming along?

Cordially,
Ines