Angel Castro

Angel L.Castro, 61, passed away on January 23, 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer at home surrounded by his family and loyal friends. He is survived by his loving wife and best friend of 30 years, Kathy Mauceri- Castro , his son Angel Castro II ( Renee) of Schenectady, and his daughters SerfinaAndolina (Jeffrey) of Latham and Kristen Castro of Schenectadyand grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers Manual Castro ( Marie) of Cape Coral, Florida and David Castro (Carmen) of Orlando Florida and brother in law James Mauceri (Stacy) of Schenectady as well as many nieces and nephews. He also leaves behind many caring friends whom he considered family. Pookie, his beloved canine companion will miss him dearly. Angel was born in Catano, Puerto Ricco to the late Rafael and Serfina (Ferran) Castro on June 22, 1952. He was raised in the lower east side of Manhattan and moved to upstate (1970) to attend State University of New York at Albany where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Angle led a life of public service holding many government positions. He began his career with the Albany County Department of Social Services where he specialized in providing services to the spanish speaking population. He then went to work at the NYS Department of Social Services as a Spanish speaking Child Protective Services Specialist for the Child Abuse ,Maltreatment and Neglect Hotline. Angel then began working for the NYS Department of Transportation as he served as the coordinator of the 55b-c program(under NYS civil service) Training Bureau Co Managerwhere he specialized in internal training and delivery and consulting , along with performance coaching. He also served asNYS DOT's ProjectManager for Sexual Harassment Intervention and Prevention where he developed a program and curriculum with the Governor's Office of Employees Relations. He was DOT's Program Coordinator for Continuing Education of Professional Engineers, Landscape Architects and Land Surveyors. In 2003 he oversaw the operation and management of DOT Training Conference Center in Schenectady he then continued working in DOT's office of Human Resources with emphasis on Training And Staff Organization Development working in such roles as Internal Consultant Trainer , Group Facilitator Program Coordinator and Project Manager until his retirement in 2007. Angel held many chairmanship positions ,The NYS Training Council Professional Development Program Committee from 1996 -1999 Vice Chair Of the NYS State Training Council from 1997-1998 and Chair from 1998-1999. He also chaired NYS TrainingCouncil Schwardon Award Selection Committee from 2004 -2007. The zenith of Angel's career occurredin 2004 ,when he received the prestigious NYS Training Council Maurice Schwardon Memorial Service Award , an award given to exemplary service in training and human resource development. Angle was a man of great strength and passion who celebrated life to the fullest. His greatest joy was his family and friends. One of his favorite pastimes was playing dominoes with his buddy Chris Martinez , Willie Hernandez and David Hernandez monthly. He enjoyed traveling with his family vacationing in Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas ,Florida and Puerto Ricco. He was the ultimate sports fan and collector following the NY Giants, NY Knicks and the Houston Astros teams. Angel loved playing jazz flutes and danced to all kinds of music especially latin and Salsa. Angel's family would like to express heartfelt gratitude to all his nurses and doctors who worked miracles ,Dr. TeTreault, Dr. Tai, Dr. Robert Smith, Dr. Weinberg, Drs. David and Micheline Ford , Dr. Pezzulo and Dr. Craig Ritchie along with the ICU Unit at Ellis Hospital. A special thank you to all his nurses and doctors at the Emergency Room and A wing 5 and 6 floors at Ellis Hospital. We also appreciate the efforts of his Schenectady Community Hospice caregivers, Jim, Cindy and Gina along with his Schenectady County Visting Nurses caregivers, Sue; Louise,Timothy and Joan. In the course of Angel's illness visits from familyand friends meant the most to him. We would like to thank everyone who visited especially Mauricio Roma, John and Donna DeGeorgio , Larry Gareau , Arnie DeMarco and Joe Kriss who made his last years on earth joyous. Contributions in Angel's memory may be made to Schenectady Community Hospice 1411 Union Street Schenectady NY 12308 and the Rotterdam EMS Ambulance Service 2007 cardiff Road Schenectady NY 12303