05/06/2022
(1 of 2) In memory of my father, Manuel Miguel Fernandez Iturriaga also better known as Manoly, the San Miguel Scholarship Fund has been created. This scholarship will be awarded yearly to a student who demonstrates resiliency in pursuit of the American Dream!
This scholarship has been created to award any student that desires to begin today to work towards their short and long term goals.
Who was Manoly Fernandez? Born on April 25, 1960, Manloy came into a world of political unknowns. Just a year earlier, Cuba had been taken over by dictator Fidel Castro leaving the Fernandez family with nothing but memories of once a prosperous, vibrant and free life in Cuba to nothing but fear and oppression. Manoly’s father, Hiram Fernandez, known as the very charismatic socialite and savvy businessman of Manzanillo, Cuba was sent to cut sugarcane and forced to leave his wife, Adeliada and three children behind to fen for themselves.
After 9 years of waiting to leave the country with permission, the Fernandez family found refuge granted by American President Lyndn B. Johnson in La Casa Libertad, located in Miami, Florida. A moment my father Manoly always reminisced on with great gratitude.
Fortunately, there was already an extended branch of the family in CA who welcomed the Fernandez crew. Before you knew it, with the help of his teachers who he always remembered, Manoly quickly acquired the English language. He found himself doing well in school and truly loved learning.
Just like his father and all the Fernandez men before him, Manoly had the entrepreneurial bug! He loved the freedom of working for himself. Manoly was a man that as they say feared nothing but fear itself. He opened various business and played with real estate. He was a trailblazer/ flag holder who paved the way for all of his three children Lizette, Giovanni, and Gizelle.