Ernesto Greenleaf Cilley

http://cilley.net/thecilleypages/cilley-en-o/p27639.htm

Ernesto Greenleaf Cilley was born on 29 April 1907 at Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was the son of Luis Prince Cilley and Anselma Sarah Hernandez. He married María Elena Beláustegui, daughter of Alberto J. Beláustegui and Maria Elena Mihanovich, on 24 September 1941 at Buenos Aires.2 He married Lia Rocca, daughter of Santiago Rocca, in June 1979 at Buenos Aires. He was buried on 25 February 1992 at San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 25 February 1992 at Buenos Aires at age 84.

Ernesto Greenleaf Cilley played for the Argentina National Rugby team. He held a public post from 1970 to 1973 called "Secretary of Sports", which is the maximum authority in Argentina in relation to sports in the Argentine government to create and stimulate sports nationally and internationally to ensure a healty, competitive ground for young athletes. He wrote La Verdad En El Deporte: Rugby in 1974. He was a big man with high moral standards and a thirst for life and although he won several awards and titles as a famous rugby star he was very humble and preferred not to talk about his own merits.

Ernesto wrote a letter to Vice-President George BUSH in 1983 when he came to Argentina on the subject: 'The rights of our country on the Malvinas' Islands' where his grandmother, Malvina Vernet de Cilley was born. He was a strong believer in tradition and fought to keep his country's tradition by founding a museum in Mar del Plata honoring Jose HERNANDEZ. Ernesto is a descendant of this prominent ancestor, Jose Hernandez, alias 'Martin Fierro', who was a brother of Rafael, Ernesto's maternal grandfather and a famous Argentine writer.

To maintain the Argentine heritage Ernesto put together parades and traditional gaucho feasts with historical carriages and clothes, all with great success and large donations to charity. He donated a lot to a charity his mother founded for young unwed mothers and their babies. He was good at organizing big occasions that he was put in charge of including the reception and party at the polo match in honor if Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh in March 1962.

The Cilley family fascinated him and he spent his whole life learning and talking about such incredible people as the Honorable Jonathan Cilley, General Joseph Cilley and his grandfather Greenleaf Cilley, with whom, no doubt, he shared his charismatic proud spirit. He passed on this love for his roots to his children who, thanks to him and his love, have gone a step further to reunite with their relatives from the United States. They are saddened that despite two trips to the US he never came close to seeing the historical sites. Nevertheless, he is surely proud watching all of these genealogical meetings and personal comings together. Many of the sentiments in this outline are from his dau., María Inés. He was full of projects and dreams and a tower of strength to all of his family until the day he died at age 85.

Ernesto bought the Hotel Angostura in Angostura, near the Chilean border, set in the mountains of Argentine Patagonia overlooking the lake and was crazy about it although he bought it 'sight unseen'. He never wanted to part with it and his children keep it as a tribute to him.

He was a well loved man by an uncountable number of people and always willing to help those who needed him. He was a great animal lover, so much so, that his own dog, a Great Dane called 'Duke' featured in a movie. Duke was an inseparable friend while Ernesto was in college, and still single. He was such an exceptional animal trained with so much love and so bright that a movie director saw him and asked to let him work in a film. The dog worked in a movie called 'The Model and the Star'. Duke was also the mascot at all important rugby matches, being the first one out on the field carrying the ball. There was such a strong bond between them that the old dog didn't pass on until he saw his beloved master again when he returned from his honeymoon.

Children of Ernesto Greenleaf Cilley and María Elena Beláustegui

◦María Elena Cilley (living)

◦Ernesto Luis Cilley b. 4 Jul 1944, d. 26 Jan 2001

◦María Inés Cilley (living)

◦Nicolas Ernesto Cilley (living)

◦Eduardo Ernesto Cilley (living)

Citations

1.Jurado Pastor "Luis Cilley of Argentine Republic", E-mail message of 21 Sep 1998.

2.Annie M. Cilley. The Cilley Family Roots in New England, Vol. II. 148 Washington St, Salem, MA 01970: Higginson Book Company, 2004.