Rios, Rubens Pereira (1926–2020)

Rubens Pereira Rios, son of Joaquim Pereira Rios and Eudóxia de Figueiredo Rios, was born on February 18, 1933, in Patrocínio Paulista,¹ in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Rubens grew up in a Christian home, and his family converted to Adventism between 1925 and 1930.²

During his childhood, his family lived in several different places. His primary education took place in schools in various cities of Santos, which is on the coast of São Paulo; and Araraquara, on the countryside of the same state. He also studied at the old Vila Matilde Adventist School (which was attached to the Vila Matilde Adventist Church) in the east part of the city of São Paulo. In his youth, he served in the Air Force, later working as a designer and illustrator at Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz (CPFL). Rubens graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Belas Artes, in São Paulo.³

Throughout most of his life, Rubens dedicated himself to serving the Church. Like his brother, Antônio Rios, he worked as an illustrator for the Brazil Publishing House, dedicating himself mainly to illustrating the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide. Rubens stood out for his work in what was the former Voluntary Missionaries Society, currently named Young Adventists. He was also a dedicated musician, serving as a singer, choir conductor, member of singing quartets, and composer of many musical arrangements. Rubens was a member of the former Ebenézer Quartet and founded the men’s choir of the Brazil Adventist University Hortolândia campus in addition to composing two hymns for the Cantai ao Senhor hymnal.⁴

Rubens married Isabela M. Rios, with whom he had three children: Claudia Rios, Alexandre Rios, and Rubem Rios (1959-1987)⁵. His son Rubem was baptized at the Vila Matilde Adventist Church, in 1968, by Pastor Rodolpho Gorski. Like his father, he worked for the CPFL. He attended the Brazil Adventist University Church in Hortolândia. His son died in an accident in the region near Hortolândia, which deeply scarred Rubens.⁶ 

After his retirement, Rubens Rios lived in Hortolândia, in the heart of São Paulo, where he served as a deacon in the Brazil Adventist University Engenheiro Coelho Campus Church. Rubens died of a heart attack at the age of 87, in the city of Campinas, in 2020.⁷

Sources

“Dormiram no Senhor.” Revista Adventista, November 1987.  

“Memória.” Revista Adventista. October 2020.

Notes

1. Claudia Rios, interviewed by Melissa Querido Batista, Centro de Pesquisas Ellen G. White: UNASP campus Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 2, 2024. ↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. Ibid.↩

5. Ibid.↩

6. “Dormiram no Senhor,” Revista Adventista, November 1987, 35.  ↩

7. “Memória,” Revista Adventista. October 2020, 45.↩