Mario Ruiz cut hair in the Miami Lakes Barber Shop until about 2021 and was known for his positive attitude, the smile perpetually on his face and just a genuine love for barbering. He passed that love down to his son, who now runs the shop.
“I was very proud of my dad,” Richard Ruiz said. “It was my honor to work with him, both him and my uncle at one point.”
Longtime Miami Laker and barber Mario Ruiz died on July 17. He was 92.
Ruiz owned the shop in the Lake Patricia Shopping Center with his brother, Rolando. The Graham Companies opened the shopping center in 1964 and two years later, sold the barber shop to Rolando, who sold it to Ruiz in 1992.
“He owned it until 2013,” Richard Ruiz said.
Richard now runs the barbershop that has cut the hair of several generations of Graham men, including the late U.S. senator and Florida governor Bob Graham and late company executive William E. Graham. Other customers included hall-of-fame Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula and Dolphins tight end and radio announcer Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich.
Ruiz was born in Cuba and came to the United States in the 1950s, where he raised his family.
He was an active member of Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Parish and had also been an usher at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hialeah.
Richard Ruiz said his father appreciated his longtime customers, who eventually became lifelong friends.