Claudio A. Fariasantos

With profound sadness, we announce that Claudio Antonio Faria Santos, 70, of Richmond Virginia, passed away on March 20th 2023. He is survived by his partner and wife, Susan; children, Eliza, Kristopher, and Maxwell; his niece, Patricia, who resides in Brazil and many others who cherished him. He was tragically predeceased by his eldest son, Daniel, his parents, his siblings, a sister,Maria do Carmo Macedo Faria Santos, and brother , Paulo Antonio Fraga Faria Santos.

Claudio was born on December 10th, 1952 to José Luiz Albuquerque de Faria Santos and Rosa Fraga Macedo in Rio de Janeiro. In 1973, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in geological engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.  From 1979 to 1981 Claudio did some post-graduate work in soil mechanics and foundation engineering at the Universidade de São Paulo before immigrating to the United States in 1982 where he earned both a master’s degree in mining engineering in 1986 and a Doctorate in mining engineering in 1988 from The Pennsylvania State University. His work in his doctorate program included research work and studies in the field of rock mechanics. For 48 years, Claudio engaged in geotechnical science and all phases of mining as a passion. He was registered in multiple states as a Professional Engineer.

His diverse employment spanned from Promon Engenharia in Brasil to Marshall Miller & Associates, a mining and environmental consulting firm, A.T. Massey Coal Company, Evan Energy Company, and Novus Mining Company in the United States. As he sequentially developed and oversaw more than a dozen mines worldwide, Claudio emphasized betterment and safety for those workers and for the environment. 

At home, he championed critical thinking and life-long academia. Claudio was a polyglot fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English and he was also certainly conversational in German, French, Russian, and even Latin. His thoughts were truly worldly, born from a love of flying since his younger days as a pilot in the azure skies over Brazil and The Pennsylvania State University. His experience was constantly extended to his family, friends, and, frankly, anyone he spoke to for more than only a few minutes. Claudio was patient, kind, courteous, and amicable to everyone he met. The rare dialogues in which he did not offer a relevant anecdote were usually punctuated by being lost in thought. His study’s library hosts classics which encompass the human condition, something which helped mold him into an incredibly empathetic person. Claudio once loved to have been called a diamond-in-the-rough, because that would be putting slag to good use.

Descanse em paz, Claudio.

A memorial service in early May will be announced here at a later date.