Ángel Jaime Hernández de Paz (1927-2003)

In August 2000, the City Council of Fuencaliente de La Palma –during the time of Mayor Pedro Nolasco Pérez y Pérez–, at the proposal of the local group of Coalición Canaria led by Gregorio Alonso Méndez, then in opposition– and echoing a popular sentiment, unanimously agreed to appoint Ángel Jaime Hernández de Paz as a Favorite Son. We wrote at that time that he was “a lovable man, with a deep love and overflowing affection and respect for his homeland; an honest fuencalentero, a noble palmero, a sailor ‘stranded on land in his last voyage’ –in the words of Admiral Amancio Rodríguez Castaños– and, above all, an example for new generations, someone who has done so much for his people and never asked for anything in return”[1].

Ángel Jaime Hernández de Paz was born on May 5, 1927, in Los Canarios. He was the eighth of eleven children of the marriage formed by Loreto Hernández Hernández and Ángela de Paz Pérez. His parents built a disciplined and orderly family, in the manner of the time, with ideals of honesty and desires to be and become better people. He learned his first letters with the national teacher Juan Hernández de Paz, for whom he always felt deep admiration, affection, and respect, being, along with his companions and friends Eudoxio Hernández Ortega and Narciso Hernández Cruz, an active promoter of the tribute paid to his memory on August 28, 1992, in his hometown.

As a young man, he moved to the seminary in La Laguna, where he began ecclesiastical studies, which he later abandoned when he decided to become a merchant sailor. He first sailed during the second half of 1945 as a sailor on the fishing vessel San Pedro. In 1947, he entered the Official Nautical School of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, from which he graduated in 1950. He did his practical training on the ships León y Castillo, Isla de Tenerife, and Lanzarote, of Compañía Trasmediterránea, and in November 1955 he obtained the title of first-class merchant marine pilot.

For five years, due to family reasons, Ángel Jaime Hernández de Paz returned to Fuencaliente de La Palma, where he opened a preparatory academy attended by young people from the town. All those who later went to the Institute in the capital of La Palma –the only one that existed on the island at that time– and later pursued university studies have long felt honored to have been his students, passing the entrance exams without difficulties. In 1955, he married Blanca Hernández Ortega in a ceremony held at the church of San Antonio Abad in Fuencaliente de La Palma, and from this union, three children were born.

However, the call of the sea remained latent in his adventurous spirit. In April 1960, he embarked for a few days as a third officer on the oil tanker Gobeo and in October of that same year on the ship Joh. Gorthon, of the Swedish company Gorthon Line, where he held the positions of third, second, and first officer. This ship was then the “flagship” of the mentioned shipping company, fondly remembered in the Canary ports. During this stage, he sailed on long-distance voyages transporting fruit and refrigerated cargo.

Notably, in 1961, he made a trip that included a stop at the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma. From Shanghai (China), the captain received orders to proceed to the port of Riga via the Suez Canal. He then continued to Hamburg, where he entered dry dock for repairs and then set sail again for the Caribbean to load fruit. While at sea, he received orders to head to the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma to load bananas destined for Finland, replacing another ship of the same flag assigned to the Tenerife-Gran Canaria-La Palma-Helsinki line.

With his young children and always with the desire to return to Spain, and although he earned more on foreign ships, in August 1962, he embarked with Naviera Aznar, serving as third and second officer on the fruit ship Monte de la Esperanza, a vessel with an interesting maritime history, which had been a minelayer for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

In March 1963, he joined the Spanish Navy, achieving one of his great aspirations, as an officer of the Active Naval Reserve (RNA), in which he remained for almost eleven years. He specialized in naval artillery, specifically in Swedish-made Bofors anti-aircraft guns. With the ranks of ensign and lieutenant, he served as the fire director of the corvette Nautilus, second commander of the minesweeper Segura, second commander of the ocean tug RA-5, second commander of the hydrographic vessel Cástor, and commander of the landing barge K-3. He was also assigned to the Military Naval Command of Santa Cruz de Tenerife during a period of intense work.

In February 1967, he obtained the title of captain of the Merchant Marine after the exams held in Madrid at that time. In recognition of his career in the Navy, he received the Naval Merit Cross with distinction. In May 1975, he requested a leave of absence to take up the position of pilot at the port of Los Cristianos, where he remained until his retirement in June 1996. During this period, as in the previous ones, he performed great work, as evidenced by the compliments from companies and captains operating in the mentioned port, as well as from the Navy and other institutions.

From his professional trajectory, three fundamental aspects stand out prominently, as he was the first fuencalentero to obtain the title of captain of the Merchant Marine, in addition to being an officer of the Spanish Navy (Active Naval Reserve) and a port pilot, in this case, as we have mentioned, of the port of Los Cristianos. He passed away on December 25, 2003, at his home in the mentioned tourist city in southern Tenerife. A few hours earlier, still on Christmas Eve, we had exchanged our traditional Christmas greeting phone call.

Ángel Jaime –Jaime as we all called him– always maintained close ties with his hometown, especially after his retirement, where he spent long periods. A good conversationalist, full of anecdotes, he was a studious man –a trait he inherited from his family– overflowing with humanity, cordiality, and respect in line with his remarkable humanistic and intellectual training, qualities that were a legitimate source of pride for those of us who were his friends.

Weeks after his death, his ashes were scattered in the waters of Fuencaliente de La Palma, fulfilling his wish. His eldest son, Jaime Fernando Hernández Hernández, and a group of close family and friends attended the emotional farewell near the century-old lighthouse, located where the island becomes a prow and vertex, facing the almost infinite ocean. At the seabed rests a volcanic stone cross with his initials engraved, thus linking him forever with the sea that was his vocation, his profession, and which he loved so much, just as he loved his family and his hometown.

P.S. Our special thanks to his son Jaime Fernando Hernández Hernández.

Notes:

[1] Díaz Lorenzo, Juan Carlos. Angel Jaime Hernández de Paz, Hijo Predilecto de Fuencaliente. In Diario de Avisos, August 20, 2000.