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Don Antonio Pérez Colón is a retired Civil Engineer/Land Surveyor born in the Dulces Labios sector of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico in the early 1920's. He is the eldest son of Master Mason Juan Pérez Matos and Homemaker/Entrepreneur Paula Colón Colón. Don Antonio studied all the way through high school in the town of Mayagüez, PR. He was the first person in his family to ever attend a university (started in 1943 at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez, at that time called the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts or simply, Colegio). His studies were interrupted by the call of the U.S. Army to serve in World War II. In 1945, Don Antonio participated in World War II combat operations in Okinawa, Japan, with the 2702 Engineer Dump Truck Company assigned to the 10th U.S. Army. He was in Okinawa approximately a year and a half and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. At the end of the war, he returned to Puerto Rico to resume his university studies.

In 1946, Don Antonio married Doña Alicia Rodriguez Mercado from Camuy, Puerto Rico, and settled in Mayagüez. He worked at night as a teacher of math and industrial arts and sold a special coconut candy he learned to make from his mother in order to support his family. He was also a member of the Army National Guard. Don Antonio also took an active part in helping his mother and his younger siblings, especially after the death of his father in 1950. Don Antonio completed his studies in Civil Engineering in 1956. He established an engineering office in Mayagüez and began to work in design and construction of homes in the western part of Puerto Rico. In 1959 Don Antonio accepted an offer to work in the Department of Transportation and Public Works in San Juan, PR, and moved his family to the San Juan Metropolitan area. Don Antonio and Doña Alicia bought a residence in the town of Guaynabo, PR where their family grew to seven children. The home served as the initial place of worship for the First Baptist Church of Urb. Muñoz Rivera, Guaynabo, PR (now the First Baptist Church of Guaynabo). He, his wife and older children were founding members of the church. In addition to his government work, Don Antonio volunteered his time as a Civil Engineer designing temples and buildings for churches. Many of his projects are still in use, such as the Puerto Rico Baptist Churches Retreat Center in Las Cruces (Caguas, PR) and the Baptist Academy in Puerto Nuevo, PR.

Later on, he re-settled in Mayagüez to work initially as the Deputy Director and, shortly after, as the Regional Director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works - Mayagüez Region. During that time, he had the opportunity to help in the care of his brother Juan, who lost his battle against cancer in 1982. In the mid 1980s, Don Antonio became the Regional Director of the Ponce Region where he made significant improvements to the Region, earning him several public service awards. Shortly before retiring, Don Antonio returned to his hometown of Mayagüez to work in the Regional Public Works Office where he completed his 32 years service to the people of Puerto Rico.

After retiring, Don Antonio moved his residence to Hormigueros, PR and dedicated himself to develop churches that were in their early steps of getting organized. In several cases, he volunteered to design and build their temples. In most of the churches where he worshiped, he was an officer, a Sunday School teacher and organized trips to help those in need in eastern Dominican Republic. In addition, he served as the Most Worshipful Master of the "Respetable Logia Porvenir de Puerto Rico #88" Masonic Lodge. Also, he spent time traveling through Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the US, mostly to places where some of his children and other relatives lived. He has fond memories of his trips to New York City, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Hawaii. As well as the good memories of a few long automobile trips that took him from San Antonio, TX to Las Vegas, NV; from Springfield, VA to Atlanta, GA and from Springfield, VA to Keystone, SD across 22 US states. Don Antonio is a cancer survivor. He suffered the loss of his mother in 1999, the loss of his sister Carmen in 2009 and the loss of his daughter Leila in 2015. In the last few years, Don Antonio lived briefly in Springfield, VA and in San Antonio, TX before returning to his beloved Puerto Rico where he is surrounded by family and friends who he continues to cultivate in his advanced age. Don Antonio's family legacy continues vibrant through his six children, seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. For more than nine decades, Don Antonio Pérez Colón - son, husband, father, brother, uncle, godfather, friend - has encouraged those around him to see life with the curiosity of a child, the wisdom of an engineer, the imagination of an inventor and the audacity of an explorer.