Carlos Samuel Quirós Vázquez (November 20, 1932 – January 23, 2022), He was a former Puerto Rico government official who served as Secretary of State from 1981 through 1985. Quirós attended elementary school at Escuela Labra in

Santurce, Puerto Rico Santurce (, meaning Saint George from Basque language, Basque ''Santurtzi'') is the largest and most populated Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico, barrio of the Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the cap ...

. He was an active member of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in old San Juan during his adolescent years, where in 1948 and 1949 he was selected to be captain of an intramural basketball team. Two years later, in 1950, he was drafted into a soccer team to represent Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and Central American games. Quiros served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. After his time in service, he returned to Puerto Rico to finish his Master's Degree in Public Administration from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras () (Spanish language, Spanish for ''stones river'') is a highly urbanized commercial and residential district in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the capital Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Adjacent to th ...

and he worked as a consultant in Central America for a private consulting firm. In 1968 he accepted a position as executive assistant to the newly elected Mayor of San Juan, Carlos Romero Barcelo. He served for 8 years as executive assistant and Deputy Mayor. When Mayor Romero resigned to assume the Governorship on January 2, 1977, he became Mayor of San Juan for a week, until Mayor-elect

Hernán Padilla Hernán Padilla Ramírez (born May 5, 1938) is a retired physician and former two-term Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Biography Graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1963. After training as a nephrologist, he entered ...

's term began. In 1976 Quirós was appointed by then Governor-elect Romero as Secretary of the Department of Labor, a position he did not get sworn into until his brief term as Mayor of San Juan ended in early January, 1977. Under Governor Romero, he also served as Secretary of State from 1981 until 1985. As Secretary of State, he was responsible for major restoration of the Royal Treasury Building and the Provincial Deputation Building, which became the Department of State headquarters in late 1984. He never actually moved into the facilities when he turned over the keys to incoming Secretary of State Héctor Luis Acevedo. Carlos S

After leaving public office, he and his wife Nancy moved to the state of Florida. He came out of retirement when he was appointed by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

as a Director at the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

in Washington, DC. After serving in the Federal Government for three years, he again retired to Florida with his wife, Nancy. He became a widower in December 2011. In June, 2012, he visited the State Department, where he was welcomed by then Secretary

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...

and San Juan City Hall, where he was welcomed by then mayor

Jorge Santini Jorge Santini Padilla (born March 11, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who previously served as the mayor of San Juan. State Service In 1975, Santini became a member of the United States Marines Air Cadets Corps. At present, he is lieutena ...

. Carlos died on January 23, 2022, in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, after a battle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. He is survived by his three sons Carlos, Nelson, and Marvin Samuel. He was interred at

Puerto Rico National Cemetery Puerto Rico National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Bayamón, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It encompasses of land, and at the end of 2005, had 44,722 interments. Until 2021, it ...

on March 11, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiros, Carlos C. 1932 births 2022 deaths Burials at Puerto Rico National Cemetery Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Florida Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico People from Yauco, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Army personnel Secretaries of state of Puerto Rico United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army officers University of Puerto Rico alumni