TAMPA – He had one of Tampa’s most famous last names and wanted everyone to know the story of his great-grandfather, who founded the Latino, historic and entertainment district of Ybor City.

That’s why Rafael Martinez-Ybor has spent the last four decades educating the public about Vicente Martinez-Ybor, who brought the cigar industry to this community nearly 140 years ago.

“I don’t know what will happen when I’m no longer on this good earth,” he once told the Tampa Bay Times. “But as long as I’m here, my great-grandfather will not be forgotten.”

Rafael Martinez-Ybor died last week at the age of 95, the Ybor City Museum Society confirmed.

He was the last direct descendant of Vicente Martinez-Ybor.

Tributes were posted on Facebook throughout the weekend.

“The Tampa community has lost a wonderful man,” wrote Ybor restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart. “He was a game changer in his own way and preserved Ybor City’s history for the past 40-plus years.”

“Tampa has lost a great son, a great man and a dear friend to all,” posted Carlos Fuente Jr. of Arturo Fuente Cigar Co.

Rafael Martinez-Ybor’s accomplishments included leading the fundraising effort for his great-grandfather’s Centro Ybor statue and helping to found the Ybor City Museum Society, the nonprofit organization that manages Ybor City Museum State Park. He was often the keynote speaker at events honoring his great-grandfather.

“We are deeply saddened by his loss and join the community in remembering an inspirational man,” wrote the Ybor City Museum Society. “It is our mission to continue to preserve, promote and celebrate Ybor City’s historic culture.”

His great-grandfather Vicente Martinez-Ybor was born in Spain and first founded a cigar factory in Cuba in 1852 and later moved his business to Key West.

In 1885, Vicente Martinez-Ybor bought 40 acres of palmetto trees and shrubs in Tampa. A year later, he opened a cigar factory there. He then lured other factory owners to the area, which became known as Ybor City and the center of Tampa’s cigar industry, the largest in the world by the early 20th century. He died in 1896.

Rafael Martinez-Ybor was born in Havana on February 6, 1929, and spent much of his childhood in Tampa, where he was known as “Ralph” as a student at Gorrie Elementary School in Hyde Park.

He then attended high school in Miami and returned to Cuba to begin a career in banking, but left the island nation in 1961 after Fidel Castro came to power.

“Our brand new condo was seized by three (militants) with machine guns,” he once said. “We had an hour to pack up everything we could.”

He then moved to New Orleans, where he focused on trade finance in Latin America.

Rafael Martinez-Ybor returned to the Tampa Bay Area in 1978 to work in international banking.

He also began devoting himself to his great-grandfather’s legacy, which included maintaining that historic figure’s mausoleum at St. Louis Cemetery in downtown Tampa.

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In 2017, he had the stucco exterior of the mausoleum repaired and painted.

“It’s my legacy,” he said at the time. “I want it to always shine.”