Guillermo Irizarry-Rubio (April 12, 1916 – November 21, 2017) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
The secretary of state of Puerto Rico ( es, Secretario de Estado de Puerto Rico) leads all efforts that promote the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico and foreign countries, and other jurisdictions of the United S ...
. Appointed by
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Roberto Sánchez Vilella
Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the '' Partido Popular Democrático''. He is also the fou ...
, he served from 1966 to January 2, 1969, when he was responsible and led the first transition team under the Puerto Rican Constitution to the opposing political party. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, which includes the role of
Lieutenant Governor of Puerto Rico, Irizarry served as head of Puerto Rico's Bureau of the Budget.
Early life
Guillermo Irizarry Rubio was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico on April 12, 1916. The sixth child of a printer, he started working early in his father's business. He graduated magna cum laude from the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
in May, 1939 with a degree in Agronomy. At the time Puerto Rico was still undergoing significant economic hardship, the result of Hurricane San Felipe in 1928. In June 1939, at the request of Carlos Esteva, then Director of the Tobacco Institute, he had his first official job at an experimental station that had been recently established in Puerto Rico. Employment opportunities were still difficult, but some jobs were by then being created on the island as a result of Luis Muñoz Marín's initiative for Puerto Rico, which joined in the type of social programs that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had implemented in the United States.
Military service and education
Guillermo Irizarry served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Irizarry had a 1A classification, which meant under the military categories, that he could be called for active military service immediately. By 1943, Irizarry had officially joined the United States military where he continued serving until July, 1946. Served as
Technician fifth grade. After his military service Irizarry offered guidance in the
Veterans Administration
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...
, but a fortunate meeting with the then Secretary of Business and Agriculture, Ramón Colón Torres, leads to him completing a Masters in Business Administration from the
University of Louisiana in 1950 and rejoining the Agriculture Department of Puerto Rico that same year. On behalf of the
Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, he participated in the process that lead Harold Toppel and brother George Toppel to establish the first supermarket in Puerto Rico, Pueblo.
Career
In 1960 he was named the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the Government of Puerto Rico, where he continued to serve past the end of the term of then Governor Muñoz on January 2, 1965, and until December, 1966 when then
Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella nominated him to become Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. It was as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico that he represented the People of Puerto Rico at the
Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.
The first memorial service following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, took place the following day at the R.S. Lewis Funeral Home in Memphis, Tennessee. This was followed by two funeral services on April 9, 1968, ...
He served as Secretary of State, and provided needed stability to the government of Puerto Rico, during one of Puerto Rico's most tumultuous times. During his term, Gov. Sánchez Vilella's relationship with his predecessor and first elected governor,
Luis Muñoz Marín
José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth."
In 1948 he ...
, deteriorated almost as rapidly as the governor's marriage to the First Lady, which ended in the first divorce of a sitting governor and remarriage to the governor's chief of staff. Politically, the governor abandoned the party that elected him, the
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party ( es, Partido Popular Democrático, PPD) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-governance. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the ...
(PDP), and joined a newly founded party, the
People's Party, which nominated him for an unsuccessful reelection bid. In November of that year, the PDP suffered its first defeat with the election of the
New Progressive Party's
Luis A. Ferré. As a result, Secretary Irizarry presided over the first transition between elected governors of different parties.
From 1973 to 1977, during the administration of
Governor Rafael Hernández Colón, Irizarry served again the People of Puerto Rico as a member of the Higher Education Counsel. Within the education arena he also served as the first President of the General Education Counsel from 1985 until 1990.
Death
Irizarry died in San Juan in November 2017 at the age of 101. He was buried at the
Puerto Rico National Cemetery
Puerto Rico National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in the city of Bayamón, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It encompasses of land, and at the end of 2005, had 44,722 interments. Until 2021, it was the only United St ...
in
Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
Publications
La Organización gubernamental en Puerto Rico-by Guillermo Irizarry-Rubio, Director, Bureau of the Budget, Puerto Rico, 1962
Honors
On June 12, 2015, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez conferred a
Doctorate Honoris Causa for Irizarry's lifetime of service to Puerto Rico.
The Colegio de Agrónomos, the mandatory-membership guild of agronomists that he co-founded in 1940, will honor his legacy of public service on June 19 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
.
References
Sources
* http://www.vozdelcentro.org/tag/guillermo-irizarry-rubio/
* http://www.vozdelcentro.org/2012/10/28/lmmrsv-el-desarrollo-del-ela-y-el-proposito-de-puerto-rico
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irizarry, Guillermo
1916 births
2017 deaths
American agronomists
American centenarians
Men centenarians
Directors of the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget
People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Secretaries of State of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican centenarians
United States Army personnel of World War II
Puerto Rican Army personnel