Carlos A. Arredondo
A cherished son, devoted husband, extraordinary father, wonderful grandfather, and loyal friend and mentor to many, Carlos A. Arredondo passed away on April 10, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. He was 89.
Born in New York City to Spanish parents, he spent his elementary school years close to his roots on the green and majestic coast of Santander, Spain. Talented in physics and mathematics and high school valedictorian, he graduated in 1956 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. His passion for airplanes led him to become a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Airforce Base in New Mexico. He served as a B-52 Special Weapons Project Officer and received an Outstanding Effectiveness Rating for establishing a new process for testing weapons based on the B-58.
An entrepreneur at heart, in 1961 alongside his brother Caesar, he established Arredondo & Co., a 50-year real estate investment partnership. Together they financed, developed, and leased commercial use buildings nationally for
Fortune 500 companies in over 120 cities and founded “Westy Self-Storage” which transformed the self-storage industry. In 2013, he sold a portion of his Westy portfolio to Sovran Self Storage, Inc. now Extra Space Storage, Inc. the nation’s largest self-storage REIT. Over the last decade, he shifted his entire focus and became an exceptional investor in the public markets. He pursued this endeavor with the same vigor as every business he created and in the same disciplined manner, first, by deeply understanding the landscape, then applying his independent lens, and ultimately, by following his instincts.
An engaged member of the Greenwich, Connecticut community, he served as a Board trustee at Greenwich Academy and led the Parish
Finance Council at Saint Mary Church. A Roman Catholic, he was a long-time patron and benefactor of the Salesians of St. John Bosco as well as several schools, giving his time, funding scholarships, and designing and instituting educational programs. He was a member of the Union League Club of New York City and the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich and relished a competitive match of tennis and sailing with friends and family on Long Island Sound and in the Caribbean. These pursuits were only surpassed by his zeal for traveling the globe, especially by sea.
Yet by far, the most important thing to him was his family, especially his beautiful and beloved wife, Mari, also from Spain, whom he married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1965 and with whom he had a 58-year partnership he blissfully deemed “a true love story.” He also had the complete love, respect, and admiration of his parents Angeles and Caesar, his three daughters, Fabiola, Elena and Marisa, his sonin-law Andrew Rolfe and his two grandchildren, Isabella and Alexander Rolfe.
He was a consummate gentleman, generous with his time and sage advice, who treated every person with respect, humility, and integrity. He was also a brilliant raconteur, elegant, charming, long on ingenuity, and an outstanding negotiator. His positive spirit, quick wit, and cool, understated style coupled with his keen intellect, excellent memory, and an insatiable curiosity and breadth of knowledge made him easy to bond with. He valued trust, loyalty, and relationships. He was a man of his word. He is deeply missed by all who had the great fortune to cross his path and whose lives he lifted. May his kind, beautiful soul rest in peace.
In lieu of flowers, the Arredondo family requests that memorial contributions be made to the caring and invested doctors and nurses affiliated with the Mount Sinai Medical Center Foundation in Miami Beach, Florida. A wake will be held on Monday, April 15th from 4-8 pm at Leo P. Gallagher & Son funeral home and a funeral mass will be held at Saint Mary Church on Tuesday, April 16th at 10 am, both in Greenwich, Connecticut.