Talk:Rebekah Colberg

Date of death?

Eljohnson15 made the keen observation in the edit summary that "at the beginning of the article it states sources that she died in 95, yet here it is written she died in 85." Looking for an answer I went back to the first source, a Spanish language book "La mujer puertorriqueña en su contexto social" literario page 215 that says that she died in 1994. The Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico 1 says that she died in July, 1985 "in the town she was born" (the current text says that she died in San Juan). The encyclopedia also links to the book as an external link. Now which source is correct? --Jmundo (talk) 19:23, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

• I know for a fact that she died in 85. I was still living in P.R. when this happened. She was long dead by 1990, when I moved to Az., therefore 96 is not correct. Tony the Marine (talk) 19:46, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

You are correct, 95 doesn't make no sense, the coliseum in Cabo Rojo was open in 1988 and we don't have any news or images that she was around for the opening. --Jmundo (talk) 19:57, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

• • I made the fixes. You know how it is with the vandals, they sneak up on articles and change things. Sometimes it is hard to catch them at their childish games, but I'm glad that we caught them here. Tony the Marine (talk) 20:00, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

It came to my attention while reading the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games article that merci was updating. It states that she was one of the ones that carried the torch in Ponce 93, the source for the information is [1] El Johnson (talk) 20:48, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

• • • It may have been a typo or mistake written by Carlos Uriarte. Tony the Marine (talk) 21:31, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

HEY FRIENDS, though no one is clearly stating it so yet, I suspect the issue here is that Colberg couldn't have been at the 1993 torch-lighting if she was dead. Am I Right? If so, here are my 2 cents:

After reading EJ's summary comment HERE, if we assume Colberg died in 1994 (as her wiki article claimed HERE before) then it makes perfect sense she was at the 1993 Games torch-lighting ceremony...That is, she died a year after the Ponce 93 games: perfectly normal, OK? She would had been 75 y/o and may have just been asked to be there ceremonially only -- very much like all the stuff 84 y/o non-athlete QEII does around the world...just a showing up kind of thing -- and not doing the lighting herself. Plus, after all, the Uriarte article states there were 2 other men participating in the lighting ceremony. So, I woulnd't just dismiss it as an Uriarte typo, unless we have other sources to indicate she actually dies in 1985

Neither the wikipedia article nor the Uriarte article say she actually carried the torch in Ponce 93 as EJ stated. Colberg was handing the torch over to Pachins Vicens, the lighter. And Coldberg did so with two other men, Eugenio Guerra and Manuel Luciano. Presumably THEY were carrying the torch and she was doing the "cheerleading"...

In any event, she must have still been alive 3 years after the new (1985) year Tony changed it to HERE, namely, in October 1988, as on page 221 of THIS BOOK, 4 other authors (Ruth Amarilis Cottó, Antonio Ballesteros González, Eulalia Piñero Gil, and Ramón Sainero Sánchez) claimed having interviewed Colberg in October, 1988. With Uriarte, that would make at least 5 journalists who claim she was alive after the new 1985 year-of-death in the article. And, its mine opinion, journalists, of anyone, are VERY careful with facts.

So maybe the real problem is with the www.pr-roots.com sites,,, which I would trust less than an independent group of journalists. (BTW, How do you get back to previous web pages once you are in that pr-roots sites??? Seems they hijack your browser's BACK button!)

I know Encyclopedia PR states she died in July, 1985, but I have seem EPR being wrong before, such as alluding to Cerro de Punta peak being in Jayuya, when it is in Ponce. And this is not the only case I have "against" EPR; there are others such as Ponce High (1915) being "the oldest educational institution in Ponce". But it was not, there were others.

In any event, when everything else is said and done, let's not forget to update THIS place too.

As I said, my two cents. Regards, Mercy11 (talk) 19:07, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

• The reason I changed the article back was because it originally was written that she died in 85 Here:. I tried to open page 221 of THIS BOOK, but could not, however I did see page 220, with a reference to "Rebekah Colberg, 1988, La Mujer en el deporte"; discurso leido enla dedicatoria del Campo Travesia de ls Universidad de Puerto Rico en Cayey, Noviembre 17, 1988. The reference does not state that she was present. It is common practice to name public buildings after a person's death, however this is not always true since Ruben Rodriguez and Mario Morales have been honored in life. What we need is some one with the proper knowledge to get the record stright and to tell us the exact date of death of Rebekah Colberg, that isall. Tony the Marine (talk) 19:51, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

I'll see if I can get in touch with "El Comite Olimpico de PR", they should know. Tony the Marine (talk) 20:53, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

While we get to/from COPR, as for the book referenced above, I know it can be a bit tricky finding page 221, and I should had mentioned that. The way I do it is: 1.Get to the book (via the link I provided SAY, THIS WAY). 2. On the left there will be a "Search in this book" field, type "Rebekah Colberg" in there (the double quotes are optional - use them or leave them). 3. Six results will be presented (pages 220, 215, 221, and others). 4. Scroll down to the third result (page 221). 5. The October 1988 informaion I stated above is found there.

One way or another we'll get to the bottom of this. Regards, Mercy11 (talk) 22:30, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

• I know is not a reliable source by Wikipedia standard but according to the Social Security death index she died in 1994, 1. Maybe someone with access to the endi.com archive can check for her obituary. ( About Cerro Punta, someone should inform the people of Jayuya 1 that one of the town main tourist attraction has been annexed by Ponce, I will post my concern about the Ponce takeover of Jayuya's treasure in the appropriate page.)

HEY FRIENDS, this seems to get even better yet! >>> This whole thing started more or less with whether or not Colberg was present at the 1993 CAC Games...if she was already either too old to be there or already dead! However, the wiki article on her also seems to have her DATE OF BIRTH wrong. Her Social Security Death Index says she was born on December 25, 1910; but the wiki article says she was born on December 25, 1918 -- EXACTLY EIGHT (8) YEARS LATER. For example, check these places:

• WEBSITE ONE
• WEBSITE TWO
• WEBSITE THREE

This dichotomy makes me, of course, doubt even more the correctness of her alleged death year of 1985.

Hope this helps. Regards, Mercy11 (talk) 22:25, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

OK, everybody. I must be getting old and my memory must be failing me, that is the only excuse that I can come up with (sonrisa). El Comite Olimpico de Puerto Rido" has answered me and this is what they say: "she died on July 8, 1995, not on 1985 as is said online. She was one of the torch bearers on the Central American Games in Ponce 1993." Coming from them, I accept that answer, agreed? Tony the Marine (talk) 19:01, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Tony, did COPR have anything to say regarding her birth year? Was it 1910 or 1918? Are we going to go by the same old sources on her birth date if there were wrong on her death date??? Mercy11 (talk) 23:09, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

• • I already sent another e-mail requesting the right birth year, therefore we'll wait until they answer. Tony the Marine (talk) 00:05, 24 August 2010 (UTC)
• Update: I just recieved confirmation from COPR that the birth year is 1918. Tony the Marine (talk) 21:16, 24 August 2010 (UTC)