Moving to New York City shortly after their elopement, Angel and Sonia settled in Brooklyn. He initially worked at the Spanish Tourist office in Manhattan and, later, as a teacher at the Berlitz School of Languages. A year after the birth of Alicia, their first-born child in 1969, he became a stay-at-home father and her primary caregiver, a role almost unheard of at the time yet one he cherished with all three of the children they raised. The family moved to Massachusetts in 1975 so that Sonia could pursue doctoral studies. It was there that they adopted their second daughter, Marisa, in 1976. After being Marisa’s primary caregiver for two years, Angel became a bilingual teacher in the Holyoke Public Schools, first at Holyoke High School and, later, at Peck Middle School and the Holyoke Middle School for the Arts. A beloved teacher, he also made his mark as a parent organizer and fierce advocate for his students and their families. A gifted teacher for students of all levels, grades, and ages from daycare through college, he was especially drawn to working with infants at the University of Massachusetts North Amherst Child Care Center, where he played music of the world and sang and played games in Spanish with the babies even though none of them came from Spanish-speaking homes. Surely that early exposure opened their minds to a wider world.

In 1996, Angel retired early to be the primary caregiver to his granddaughter Jazmyne, a role he relished until his final days 26 years later. Unable, as a child, to say “Abuelo,” Jazmyne dubbed him “Abú.” It became not only the name that his daughters, all his future grandchildren, their friends, and many others would call him, but also his preferred title and role.

            Angel Nieto’s love for, and commitment and generosity to all people and causes of freedom were legendary. He would get up at dawn to participate in demonstrations demanding quality bilingual education and authentic family involvement, and against apartheid in South Africa or the U.S.-backed war in Central America, among others. During a peaceful sit-in at Representative Silvio Conte’s office in Holyoke to protest U.S. involvement in Central America, he was the only non-citizen arrested. The judge presiding over the case warned him he would be deported if he ever showed up in his court again. In 2008, after living in the United States for nearly 40 years, he added citizenship of the United States to that of his native Spain in a moving ceremony in Boston where he was accompanied by his wife Sonia and granddaughter Jazmyne.

            Humble, modest, and retiring, Angel avoided the limelight, preferring instead to shine the light on his students, community members, and his wife. But his goodness and kindness finally caught up with him and he could no longer avoid the accolades he so deserved: in 2019, he was selected as one of “Hidden Legends of the Paper City,” organized by Pa’lante, a youth-led Restorative Justice Project at Holyoke High School. A permanent exhibit honoring the 26 individuals selected for this honor is located at the high school, and a banner with Angel’s likeness hangs on Main Street in Holyoke. That same year, he also received the Antonia Pantoja Distinguished Achievement Award from the Latino Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, a fund that he and other community activists had helped establish 20 years earlier.

Teacher, poet, published author, visionary, community organizer, fixer of anything needing repair, avid gardener, artist, early feminist before men defined themselves as such, “honorary Puerto Rican” and lover of the island, and the very best father and grandfather imaginable, Angel Nieto was a man of many talents and multiple dimensions. He was predeceased in Spain by his sister María Alicia and brothers Mariano and Antero. He is survived by an adoring family, including his wife, children, and grandchildren, as well as his brother José Ramón Nieto Romero in Spain, his sister-in-law Lydia Cortés, her son James, wife Nell, and their daughter Aniela in New York City, along with several other in-laws and nieces and nephews in New York, Spain, and Puerto Rico.

An Amherst area resident for nearly five decades, Angel died on December 18, 2021 of congestive heart failure in hospice care at home. He was surrounded by Alicia, Marisa, Jazmyne, most of his 12 grandchildren, and his ‘Sonita.’

A scholarship in his name to benefit Latin@ students has been established at the Community Fund of Western Massachusetts. Checks can be made payable to the Community Foundation of Western MA with Angel Nieto Scholarship noted in the memo line.  Gifts online can be made at www.communityfoundation.org