On April 4th, 2008, Manuel Vicente Osorio
Rios, 100 years old, posed as a proud
American citizen, becoming the first
Arizonian and the 11th in the nation to be
naturalized at 100 years old, the day before
his 101st birthday. He recalled the special
day as one of the proudest moments in his
life; it was a life-long dream to become an
American citizen.
Manuel
Vicente Osorio Rios, Vicente as he is known,
was born on April 5, 1907 in Huaraz, Peru, to his
parents Isabel Rios, who lived to be 99
years old, and Juan Rios, who passed away
from tuberculosis when he was 35 years old.
Vicente is the eldest of four siblings and
only achieved a first grade education as he
took parental responsibilities to help his
mother with the children and household tasks
when his father tragically passed away.
He began to work at the youthful age of 14
as a diligent servant to a wealthy
family. All his income went directly
to his family to overcome the
difficulties of being
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poor. At the innocent
age of 17, Vicente enrolled himself in the
military where he owned his first pair of
boots, learned to speak Spanish, read and
learned how to drive a car. In the military,
he was admired and respected by his many
peers for not only being extremely
hardworking and considerate, but, also,
displaying a jaunty, confident outlook on
life and entertaining them with his singing.
At 21 years old, Vicente was discharged from
the military and became a chauffeur for an
agency that contracted to the wealthy. With
his earnings, Vicente bought land in Paltay
and built three houses side by side for his
mother, siblings and himself. At the prime
age of 28, Vicente was still chauffeuring.
On a train ride home from Lima to Caraz he
met and fell in love with Vitalia.
In 1940, Vicente married
the beautiful Vitalia at the mature age of
33 years and had four children: a daughter
who died in the land slide of Huaraz in
1941, Jorge Arana, Raul and Carmen. As he
built his clientele, Vitatlia encouraged him
to begin his own chauffeuring business. In
1954, Vicente bought his first truck. He
named it Callejon de Huaylas, after the
route that he drove back and forth to
transport people, wheat, flour and
vegetables.
The year of 1969 was the
peak of his success as he had 10 trucks, but
worked an average of 105 hours a week to put
his children through college; he thought
education was very important to succeed in
life. He was dearly admired by his clientele
and was called the “pioneer” of transporting
goods to the mountainous towns of Peru. In
1970, there was an earthquake that destroyed
the roads of Vicente’s route; he could not
work and the bank took over his trucks,
except for one. His son, Jorge, became a
police officer and later became an
entrepreneur like his father. His second
son, Raul, went to medical school in
Spain
and became a gynecologist. His daughter,
Carmen, obtained her Ph.D. in Spanish
Literature. In 1970, Vicente sold his
company; he and his wife moved to Lima to
live with their daughter, Carmen.
In 1973, Vicente and
Vitalia went to the United States for the
first time to visit Raul in Rochester, New
York. The cold weather was too much; after
two months they returned to Peru as
Vitalia’s health was deteriorating. In 1974
she passed away from renal cancer.
Vicente moved to the
United States in 1982 and lived with Raul’s
family. Raul’s wife, Theresa, helped him
apply for his residency and enrolled him
into a senior center near their home. At 75
years old, he returned to school to learn
how to speak English. Though he began to
understand the language, he could not speak
it well. He moved in with his daughter,
Carmen, in 1985 and dedicated his time to
helping her raise her three daughters. He
also continued to be involved with the
senior center.
In 1990, Vicente wanted
to give back to the city of Caraz, Peru, and
decided to donate his house that he lived in
with his family, on the condition that it
would be turned into a museum and a library
to promote education. He used the money that
he received from other rental properties to
pay for maintenance of the house.
Another great
accomplishment was in 1991, when he drove
from Arizona to Washington, D.C., with his
son-in-law to meet the President of Peru. He
donated 12 tons of medical equipment that
his son Raul obtained from hospitals and
private donors.
Currently, Vicente
continues to attend the senior center during
the week and on weekends he devotes spending
time with his grandchildren and great
grandchildren. He absolutely loves and
adores his family. He currently has 12
grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren who
worship him dearly; he is known and beloved
as “Papa Chente.” Having achieved his goal
of becoming a United States citizen,
Vicente’s new goal is to meet President
Obama.
— submitted by Vicente's
family; edited for publication.
1998-2018 National Centenarian Awareness Project & Lynn Peters
Adler, J.D.
No material, in whole or in part, may be reprinted
or reproduced in any form without the prior written permission
of Lynn Peters Adler and the National Centenarian Awareness Project.
