After a long and fruitful life, Dr. José Baquerizo Maldonado, a famous doctor from Guayaquil, surrendered his soul to the Creator, according to the Christian faith. With his last breath, he exhaled a tireless desire to live that left a mark of righteousness and chivalry on those of us who were lucky enough to know him.

With him, the generation of those born in the 1920s, who embodied the best of the typical values ​​of Buenos Aires, including the kind gentleman, is practically dying out. He belonged to respectable families, related to heroes of independence, with a long tradition of public service. Great-nephew of former president Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno and nephew of the distinguished doctor Teodoro Maldonado Carbo, former rector of the University of Guayaquil and mentor of his professional calling.

Doctor José Baquerizo Maldonado dies

As a young Minister of Education during the presidency of Camilo Ponce Enríquez, he was the promoter of the creation of the Escuela Politécnica del Litoral, Espol, in 1959, which made it possible to fill the gap in higher education in the city, without engineering degrees. He was ambassador to Spain, the country where he specialized as a surgeon and gastroenterologist.

In the 1960s, he ran for mayor of Guayaquil under the slogan “Baquerizo Maldonado, problem solved”. When they reminded him, he jokingly added: “…with air conditioning.” True, the city lost the opportunity to have an authentic Cincinnatus (a model of ancient Roman civic virtues) at its service. He was a representative of BO in the Constituent Assembly in 1966-1967.

As a young minister of education… he was the promoter of the creation of Espol in 1959.

As an adult, he served as rector of the Catholic University of Guayaquil, a position that honored his long career as a teacher of youth. He combined teaching in the classrooms with that in the operating theaters at the Luis Vernaza, Solca and IESS hospitals, where he exercised the apostolate of his Hippocratic Oath. He was a doctor available to his patients 24 hours a day, who faithfully appreciated his natural healing gift.

He was a handsome man, elegant in a suit or guayabera, with a well-proportioned face, with luxuriant brown hair and a moustache, on which stood out an attractive smile, reflecting his benevolence. His voice, with good tone and warmth, harmoniously accompanied his overall nature. Needless to say, he was a cultured person of supreme intelligence.

José Baquerizo contributes to education and health

His personality was honest and open, without duplicity. His characteristic trait stood out as persistent optimism, opposed to the idea that the world is too much for men because of their anxieties and insecurities. He was the embodiment of Confucius’ ren, which can be translated as a sense of humanity composed of five cardinal virtues: respect, generosity, sincerity, seriousness and kindness.

He had an identity shaped by the things he loved the most: his family (wife, 8 children, 32 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren), friends, profession and the solace provided by his agricultural holdings in Boliche, where he grew bananas, provided he., cocoa and sugar cane. Fifteen days before his death at the age of 97, he visited them for the last time, making plans for the future.

Such was the happy end of the beloved Pepe, a man who never got tired of life. (OR)