Obituary of Alberto Gomez-Rivas
On July 5, 2022, Alberto Gomez-Rivas, a beloved husband, and father passed away in Houston Texas. Alberto came to the USA with his wife, Julia Mercedes Castilla, in 1959 on a Fulbright scholarship. While studying Civil engineering at the University of Illinois his daughter Juanita was born. Alberto went on to earn his PHD at the University of Texas, Austin.
Alberto spent over 20 years in the USA before moving back to Colombia. During those years he worked for Parsons Brinckerhoff as a Civil Engineer and for Control Data as an Economist. His son Andres was born in San Francisco where Alberto worked building bridges for the BART system. Camilo was born in Houston where Alberto worked doing engineering and economics analysis using Control Data super computers. Alberto also earned his PHD in Economics from Rice University while living in Houston.
Alberto loved to explore the world and take on new adventures with his family. In 1979 he moved his family to London for a year and then to Bogota, Colombia where he founded his own consulting firm. Alberto also traveled throughout Europe, Central and South America, Asia and the Middle East.
Alberto spent the last 30 in Houston as a professor at the University of Houston Downtown where he taught engineering and started the fire safety program. He was also a chair of the engineering department.
In addition to his wife and three children, Alberto leaves 6 grandchildren: Natalia, Andrew, Eric, Emma, Carlos and Zelie. Alberto was the second of four children of Alberto Gomez Mora and Helena Rivas Aldana. His brothers Fernando and Federico are deceased and Jorge Enrique lives in Bogota.
A ceremony of life will be held for Alberto at 2 PM on September 17th at All Saints church in Houston Texas. In leu of flowers donations can be sent in his name to St Jude Children’s Hospital.
