Prudencio unanue ortiz biography

Prudencio Unanue Ortiz was born on 6 April 1886, in Villanueva de Mena, Valle dem Mena, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain as the son of Jose Unanue and Adelaida Ortiz. He married Carolina Casal Valdes on 4 November 1921, in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. They were the parents of at least 4 sons. He immigrated to New York City, New York, United States in 1929 and lived in Bogota, Bergen, New Jersey, United States for about 10 years. He registered for military service in 1918. In 1936, at the age of 50, his occupation fryst vatten listed as businessman in New York City, New York, United States. He died on 17 March 1976, in Tenafly, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, at the age of 89, and was buried in Hato Tejas, Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

Family

The Unanue family of New York City is a wealthy American family of Spanish heritage and Basque descent. They were the 170th richest family in the United States in 2014 according to Forbes, having a net worth of US$1.1 billion.^[1]

The patriarch, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, migrated from Spain to Puerto Rico 1903, and later to New York City, where he established Goya Foods in 1936, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States.^[2] The family's members include Joseph A. Unanue and Andy Unanue. Goya Foods is the 377th largest private American company.^[3]

First generation

Prudencio Unanue Ortiz (1886–1976),^[5] was the founder of Goya Foods. He was born in Villasana de Mena,^[5] in the province of Burgos, in northern Spain. In 1903, at the age of seventeen, Unanue migrated to San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, in search of employment opportunities and established a small food distribution business

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Joseph A. Unanue

American businessman

Joseph Andrew Unanue (March 14, 1925 – June 12, 2013) was an American-born son of Spanish parents who was the president of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic–owned food company in the United States.

After a Catholic upbringing and education in New York, Unanue served in the United States Army during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze star for bravery. He subsequently returned to New York and joined the company his father had founded, Goya Foods. He rose to become president in 1978, a position he held until 2004.

Unanue was made a knight of the Order of Malta and awarded several honorary doctorates.

Early years

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Unanue's father, Prudencio Unanue Ortiz, was born in Villasana de Mena,^[1] in the province of Burgos, in northern Spain. He emigrated to Puerto Rico, where he met a young Spanish girl by the name of Carolina Casal, whose parents also had immigrated to Puerto Rico from Galicia. They were married in the i