Hector Akel

H. Rodolfo Akel, 65, of Suffield, CT, collapsed while dancing at the Zydeco festival at Strawberry Park and died on June 12, 2001. His friends said that he was very blessed to leave this world doing what he loved. He was born August 18, 1944, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Rodolfo was a proud graduate of LaSalle Academy in Guayaquil. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell in 1967 and obtained a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from RPI. Rodolfo had a life-long career at Combustion Engineering (later ABB and Alstom) in Windsor, CT. designing power plants and had three patents on his work. He was a mentor to many minority science and engineering students. He enjoyed tennis, bicycling, and most of all dancing. He ran Cajun/Zydeco dances in Old Wethersfield for the past 12 years. A memorial zydeco dance to celebrate his life is being planned for August. He is survived by his long time friend Sheila Browne of South Hadley, MA; former spouse, Bonnie L. Rowe of Bloomfield, CT and by 5 sisters and 2 brothers in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He leaves numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends in the United States and Ecuador.
A Funeral Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Suffield, CT will be held on Saturday, June 19.

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