Alma McLaughlin explained

Alma McLaughlin de Trujillo
Office:First Lady of the Dominican Republic
Term Start:December 12, 1959
Term End:August 4, 1960
Predecessor:María Martínez de Trujillo
Successor:Aída Mercedes Batlle
President:Héctor Trujillo
Birth Name:Alma McLaughlin Simó
Birth Date:5 August 1921
Birth Place:San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
Death Place:Coral Gables, Florida, United States
Father:Charles McLaughlin
Mother:Zaida Simó Clark
Relatives:Rafael Trujillo (brother-in-law)
Ramfis Trujillo (nephew-in-law)
Angelita Trujillo (niece-in-law)

Alma McLaughlin, known in the Dominican Republic as Alma McLaughlin Simó de Trujillo and in the United States as Alma McLaughlin Trujillo, (5 August 1921 – 13 February 2018) was a Dominican public figure and wife of former President Héctor Trujillo. She served as the First Lady of the Dominican Republic from 12 December 1959 to 4 August 1960.[1]

McLaughlin was born within an upper-class white family in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. Her father was Col. Charles McLaughlin, an American marine who arrived in the Dominican Republic during the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924), while her mother was Zaida Simó Clark, a Dominican of English heritage.

McLaughlin met and engaged in 1937 with Héctor Trujillo, who was 13 years her senior, at age 16. However, they did not marry until 1959 when he was President of the country as Trujillo's elder brother (Rafael Trujillo) did not consent their marriage, as he expected Héctor, his junior brother, to take care of their elderly mother instead of marrying.

McLaughlin and her husband exiled in Estoril, Portugal in 1961 and relocated first to Panama and later to Miami, United States. Trujillo died in 2002 and McLaughlin died in a nursing home in 2018.

Notes and References

  1. News: Celeste. Perez . Mujeres de poder: un recorrido por la historia de las primeras damas de la República . . 2020-08-26 . 2021-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210228131725/https://listindiario.com/la-republica/2020/08/26/632552/mujeres-de-poder-un-recorrido-por-la-historia-de-las-primeras-damas-de-la-republica . 2021-02-28 . live.