Obituary of Luis Rene Sanchez

Luis Rene Sánchez, whose deep faith and unshakable convictions guided him out of Cuba, through life and law school in a new country and through a 51-year marriage in which the couple raised eight children, died Tuesday in Union, surrounded by loved ones, after a battle with prostate cancer.

He was 75 and lived for 27,718 days, of which none was bad: “With God’s help, every day is good and some are even better,” he would tell anyone who would listen.

Born in Santiago de Cuba in 1949, Luis was one of nine children, all of whom escaped together in 1960 from a country Fidel Castro had seized. They settled in Jersey City and later moved to South Orange. Luis attended Seton Hall Preparatory, where he was the co-recipient of the Most Representative Setonian Award in 1968.

He was awarded a full presidential scholarship to St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, where he began dating Anne Mulligan, the love of his life, and graduated in 1972. He then enrolled in Seton Hall University Law School, graduated in 1975, was sworn in as an attorney and adopted a career in which he could be an advocate for Spanish speakers.

In 1977, Luis began a practice providing services in general law in the middle of Elizabeth, a heavily Spanish-speaking city. After his brother Manuel and brother-in-law Joseph joined, the firm became known as Sánchez, Sánchez & Santoliquido.

Luis was dedicated to his clients and to his career, serving on committees for the New Jersey Supreme Court and the New Jersey State Bar Association that included the New Jersey Ethics Commission and New Jersey Lawyers Fund for Client Protection. Helping others was both his profession and passion.

He loved his family, who settled in Maplewood, and loved the Church, a proud daily communicant. He raised his five sons and three daughters by preaching a love of one another and of God, along with a moral code.

“There is a right way and a wrong way to do” just about anything in life, he would say, and there was never any doubt to all who knew him that he would do things the right way.

He is survived, among many others, by his wife, Anne Sánchez; eight children, Emily Scipione (Gerard), Paul Sánchez (Allison), Andrew Sánchez (Peggy), Elizabeth Wilson (Ryan), Mary Kathryn Lacayo, Mark Sánchez (Emily Condon), James Sánchez (Dorothy) and Joseph Sánchez (Jessica); and 16 grandchildren, Ella, Kate, Thomas, Grace, Eleanor, Colin, Abigail, Reece, Riley, Remi, Rome, Madeline, Julian, Jonny, Nate, Mila and one more on the way and siblings Manuel P. Sánchez (Eileen), M. Carmen Bober (Vincent), Carolina Sánchez Calabrese (Anthony), Pablo J. Sánchez, Maria C. Santoliquido (Joseph), Rosa M. Sánchez Nishikawa (Kenichi) and Magdalena S. Sánchez (William Bowman), as well as close cousin Dulce Maria Bolivar Haley and countless cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and brother Guillermo R. Sánchez.

A wake will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in South Orange from 4-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Funeral services and a mass will begin at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows on Saturday, Nov. 15, and the burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to Our Lady of Sorrows would be appreciated.