Remembering Alfy Fanjul

Alfonso Fanjul, Jr. — “Alfy” to nearly everyone who knew him — a man who dedicated his life to rebuilding his family’s Cuban sugar legacy in America, died on August 3 in South Florida at the age of 89. He was a titan of industry, a gentleman of unwavering integrity and, above all, a devoted patriarch of a family he vowed to always keep together. 

Born in Havana, Cuba on June 27, 1937, Alfy was the eldest child of Alfonso Fanjul, Sr. and Lillian Gómez Mena, whose marriage joined two of Cuba’s most prominent sugar families. From an early age, he understood his family’s accomplishments were more than a business – they were a heritage to be preserved. It became the defining purpose of his life.

In 1959, following Castro’s communist revolution, at 23 years old, Alfy fled Cuba to join his family in America, leaving behind 90,000 acres of land, 10 sugar mills, three distilleries, a refinery, their homes and other important properties in Havana — including the Manzana de Gómez, a signature landmark in downtown Havana. What he and other Cuban exiles carried with them to the United States was the expertise of how to cultivate and mill sugarcane – knowledge Alfy would lean on in years to come.

Although he never stopped loving Cuba, Alfy wholeheartedly embraced America as the country where his future would be written. He often said that in America, anyone could succeed “if you work hard and play by the rules.”

Alongside his father and grandfather, Pepe Gomez Mena, that same year, he founded the initial building blocks of what would become Fanjul Corp. and Florida Crystals Corporation in western Palm Beach County, Florida. That modest beginning in the “Glades” grew into one of the largest sugar companies in the world, operating in eight countries, with beloved household brands, such as Domino® Sugar. The family’s first venture outside the U.S. since Cuba — Central Romana and the Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic — always held special meaning for Alfy as a return to the Caribbean of his homeland.

After his father’s passing in 1980, Alfy became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the family’s companies. He held those roles until his passing.

Even with his remarkable success, Alfy often preferred the farm over the boardroom. He frequently said the reason he knew the sugar business so well was because he had done every job in it — from farm to mill. Following a family tradition, each Florida harvest season, he visited both of the company’s sugar mills, Osceola and Okeelanta, for the blessing by a priest and to wish every employee a safe harvest. For more than six decades, through the good years and the bad, he honored this tradition, earning him the loyalty and respect of generations of employees.

He often said, as CEO, he had an obligation to three stakeholders: his employees, the local community and the company’s shareholders – “in that order.”

That philosophy extended beyond business. Alfy was a graduate of Fordham University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in May 2010. He was a co-founder of Mission International Rescue Charities in the Dominican Republic, a trustee emeritus of the University of Miami, a trustee of the Brookings Institution, and served as a director on multiple public company boards such as Pennzoil, Florida Power & Light and Southeast Bank.

Alfy was an avid and competitive sportsman who loved fishing and golf. In 1982, he won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, which was particularly meaningful to him as were the tournaments he won at his beloved Seminole Golf Club.  In 1979 and 2007, Alfy achieved first place in the prestigious Gold Cup Fishing Tournament. 

After his experience having everything taken by the government in Cuba, Alfy chose to actively participate in the political process in the U.S. He supported elected officials who he believed would help create jobs and economic activity while also protecting the environment. He served as Florida Co-Chairman of Bill Clinton’s 1992 Presidential Campaign, and at Clinton’s economic conference summit, Alfy described himself as having “a strong environmental conscience and profound desire for my business interests to operate in harmony with environmental needs.”

A man of deep faith, Alfy was a devoted patron of the Diocese of Palm Beach County, where he attended Mass regularly. 

He was a man of stature whose presence was felt the moment he entered a room, and he was respected and admired by all. He was the head of a multinational company for more than 65 years, but he will be remembered most by those who loved him as the patriarch of a family. He was also a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

He died peacefully surrounded by his family.

He is survived by his wife, Raysa; his two daughters, Crista Ryan and her husband, Allan, and Lillian Fernandez and her husband, Luis; a stepdaughter Raissa Enis and her husband Edward; four siblings, Lian Fanjul, Jose “Pepe” Fanjul, Alexander Fanjul and Andres Fanjul; five grandchildren, Andrew, Cy, Luis, Alfy and Mimi; and seven greatgrandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to New Hope Charities, Mission International Rescue (MIR), Bascom Palmer, or the Cleveland Clinic, whose doctors and nurses took wonderful care of Alfy.