Mérida, Yucatán, (June 28, 2021).- After a brief illness and at the age of 49, this Sunday 27, Mr. Manuel Balam Ruiz passed away. He was editorial vice-principal at Diario de Yucatán since 2012.
Bachelor of Business Administration, graduated from the Technological Institute of Mérida, ‘Manolo’, as his colleagues knew him, was convalescing from Covid-19.
With 28 years of experience in Grupo Megamedia, in different commercial and editorial positions; generous, humble, attentive, a committed journalist and hard worker, a good companion, he was a key figure in the Newsroom and the growth of the newspaper in the last three decades.
Son of José Baltazar Balam (RIP) and Wilma Candelaria Ruiz Pacheco, he was the youngest of three siblings. On August 3, 1996, he married with Silvia de Jesús Aguilar Ávila, with whom he had two children, María Paula and Juan Diego.
Manolo Balam joined the Diario de Yucatán on September 13, 1993, in the Commercial department, where he served as a sales executive. Soon after, he competed for a vacancy in the Editorial Office and became editor of the Quintana Roo section, which he came to head. Later he took charge of the “Imagen” section, of which he was coordinator before being appointed editorial vice-principal of the newspaper.
In all his positions he stood out for his spirit of service and generosity to accompany and teach, virtues that his colleagues always recognized him. As editorial director of the newspaper, in 2018 and 2019 he was a member of the jury for the National Journalism Prize.
His body was cremated and the ashes will be deposited in a crypt of the church of Nuestra Señora de Fátima, in García Ginerés, on a date to be defined.
In addition to his widow, children, and mother, he is survived by his brothers Wilma Beatriz and José Agustín, in-laws Francisco Balám and David Antonio Aguilar Avila (Francisco Aguilar Avila has already passed away), nephews and other relatives, who receive the condolences of the people of his friendship, to which we cordially associate ours.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom sends its sincere condelensces to the famliy and friends of Mr. Manuel Balam
