Attorney and engineer Pedro Vázquez served as Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

's eighth Secretary of State

Secretaries of State of Puerto Rico

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provides for the position of Secretary of State of Puerto Rico who is first in line to exercise the role of acting Governor when the Governor is temporarily unavailable, whether because of being away from Puerto Rico or due to another temporary...

 from 1979 to 1981 under Governor Carlos Romero Barceló

Carlos Romero Barceló

Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the fifth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party and also Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, making him one of the more successful...

, Deputy Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

 from 1984 to 1988 under Mayor Baltasar Corrada del Rio

Baltasar Corrada del Río

Baltasar Corrada del Río is a former politician from Puerto Rico. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner , Mayor of the capital city of San Juan , Puerto Rico's 15th Secretary of State and...

 and Executive Director of the publicly-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, originally named the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority or Autoridad de las Fuentes Fluviales was created by Law #83 of May 2, 1941 during the governorship of Rexford G. Tugwell, an FDR "brain-truster".Publicly-owned, PRWRA unified diverse regional and...

  (PREPA) from 1977 to 1979.

Public life

A United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 graduate in 1957, he served in the Marines during the late 1950s and early 1960s. During the Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

 administration, he served as Deputy Counsel and General Counsel of the United States Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...

. He served in multiple public sector roles at the Federal, state and municipal level, in addition to practicing law, serving as president of the now-defunct El Mundo

El Mundo (Puerto Rico)

-History:El Mundo was founded in 1919 by Romualdo Real.In 1929, former corrector-turned-administrator Angel Ramos and journalist José Coll Vidal, bought the newspaper when Real retired. In 1946 Ramos was the sole owner of the newspaper.-Acquisitions:...

 newspaper and working as a developer and project manager.

During his stint as PREPA's Executive Director, the authority went through one of its most difficult strikes.

As Secretary of State, he not only headed Puerto Rico's Department of State, but fulfilled the role of Lieutenant Governor, serving as Acting Governor whenever Gov. Romero was off the island.

Private life

Born on December 16, 1934, Vázquez died on June 23, 2011, at the age of 76. He was married to the former Carmen Iris Alsina and had three daughters and a son, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

, he was interred at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Bayamón, Puerto Rico

Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...

 where he was eulogized by his successor, current Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...

. Flags flew at half-staff for three days in his honor after his passing.