Jorge Andrés Délano Rodríguez

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Jorge Andres Delano passed away at home on Wednesday, September 13, 2017. Jorge was born in Paris, France in 1935 to Jorge Monroe Delano, a Chilean diplomat, and Indalecia Rodriguez de Delano. The family moved back to Chile at the outbreak of World War II. He grew up in Vina del Mar, on the coast, and later graduated from the Chilean Naval Academy in Valparaiso in 1954 as a lieutenant JG. He and his classmates served on the maiden voyage of the Chilean tall ship “Esmeralda” for its 6 month cruise in the Pacific Ocean. Jorge resigned his commission in 1956 and came to the United States to earn a BA in business from the University of Michigan. Upon graduation in 1959 he settled in Caracas, Venezuela to work for the Mendoza Group, a large conglomerate of industrial companies. In 1968 he took over as President, and later CEO as well, of Venceramica, one of the group’s smaller companies, and turned it into one of the most prominent manufacturers of sanitary ware products in South America, with factories in four countries, including two in the USA. Known for his unique and daring approach to business and his imaginative marketing style, Jorge Delano brought the first Hot Air Balloons to Venezuela in the early 1980s. After earning his Balloon pilot license here in the USA in 1981, he promoted his company and his adopted country by flying his Venceramica logo-ed Balloons in the spectacular landscapes of Venezuela for nearly 10 years. The films made and books published, through the Lost World Balloon Society, about those adventures have been shown and shared in many countries over the years since. After the sale of Venceramica and its group companies in 1995, Jorge continued pursuing his interests and passions, becoming a helicopter pilot; studying for and receiving his Master’s Degree in American Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 2003; and starting up a niche market ceramic manufacturing facility in Quito, Ecuador from which he retired in 2010. During his 35+ years in Venezuela Jorge served eleven years as President of Club de Campo, playing polo there as a member of the team Sebucan for over 3 decades. Jorge spent almost 30 years as an auctioneer for the Mendoza Foundation’s Sala Mendoza Gallery, which promoted and supported Latin American artists, most especially through the twice annual auction sales. Jorge stayed connected to his Chilean roots, serving as Chilean Consulate in Caracas for several difficult years as well as opening his third plant, Fanaloza, there in the early 1980s. He was an author and publisher of many books, most recently on his family histories in both Chile and Venezuela. An avid skier and sailor all his life, Jorge and his father were founders of the Club de Yates in Higuerillas, Chile. In 2010 he received his permanent resident status here in the United States and, in February of 2014, he became a US citizen in Bridgeport CT. These are the highlights of his incredible, well lived life on three continents.

He is survived by his wife, Katherine Wadsworth of Farmington and his family; Helena Delano and her husband, Tony Canizares and Christina Delano  and her husband, Gustavo Machado of Caracas, Venezuela; Irene Delano and her husband, Jorge Luis Morasso, of Doral, Florida; Ross Andres Delano-Wadsworth, and his partner, Allison Duncan of Corning, New York. He also leaves six grandchildren; Ana Christina, Clarissa and Alecia Machado of Caracas and Jorge, Eduardo and Andres Morasso of Doral, FL, two brothers-in-law William Wadsworth and his wife, Kate, of Farmington and Winthrop Wadsworth his wife, Marlene, of Simsbury, CT.  We are enormously grateful to all our extended family in Chile, Venezuela, and the USA as well as our dear friends who have reached out and supported us through these very difficult times. A celebration of Jorge’s life will be held at 2pm, Saturday, October 7 at the Meeting House of the First Church of Christ Congregational, 75 Main Street, Farmington, CT.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032 or the Farmington Land Trust, of which he was a member of the Board, 128 Garden Street, Farmington, CT 06032.