Omar López Villamor, 1967-2023

Omar, our dear, loving friend, passed away on Saturday, January 14 ^th , 2023, from an undetected brain aneurysm. He is survived by siblings Diana López de Buendía, Henry López, Harby López, and father, Mario López.

Omar was a civil engineer from Armenia, Quindio, Colombia, a city in the "eje cafetero" of the Andes mountains and the finest coffee in Colombia. Omar came to Madison in 1999 to stay with friend, Yolanda Grajales-Sutter, and study English. He studied at both WESLI and MESLS in Madison and met many friends there. He went on to complete his MBA at Edgewood College. While in Madison he worked as a real estate agent, a tax preparer, and business owner.

In 2012, Omar and partner, Douglas Swenson, formed Café Social coffee, using imported coffee beans from sister Diana's farms in Colombia. He began selling his brewed coffee by the cup at Madison farmers markets. After 5 years of mobile coffee, Omar and Doug moved the business to the current café location on Bedford Street in Madison. Café Social, the café, has been in operation since 2016. In 2020, Omar began bringing tours to Colombia to experience the coffee production process. The tours were a joy for Omar to plan, and he made sure that the guests were happy. This was his goal: to share with others the beauty of Colombia, the country that he so loved.

We loved him for who he was, a kind and beautiful soul who was always helping. If you needed someone to study with you, Omar was there. If you wanted to go for a walk, Omar said "sure". If you needed help in the garden to pick 3 rows of beans, Omar said "of course". He was always optimistic and was a support to all. We loved Omar because he had a beautiful sense of humor. When he laughed, our souls were happy.

We will miss Omar's positivity, his excitement for the newest Colombian pop song, his love of arepas, his passion for his coffee and his pride of beautiful Colombia.

Thank you, Omar, for changing our lives for Good. Que descanses en paz.

A celebration of life will take place at a future date.