RIOS FAMILY CEMETERY

Hidalgo Co. Cemeteries of Tx

Submitted by Frances Isbell

With Permission  of Hidalgo Co. Historical Commission (2005)

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LOCATION:  Suburban east Edinburg, 1/4 mile north of Monte Cristo Road on west side of Guinn Road.

SURVEYED:  Jan. 2, 1992 by Fay and Maria Leach, Fran Isbell.

HISTORY: The cemetery was founded by Guadalupe Rios and his son Rene in 1989, when their son and brother was killed in a traffic accident. USAF paramedic Sgt. Jose Maria Rios (1954-1989) was training under Arctic conditions in Alaska when the Dutch ocean liner Prinzendam caught fire.  Sgt Rios jumped from a helicopter into the sea, and transferred 50 passengers from lifeboats to helicopters. before the cable snapped.  With both helicopters called away, Sgt. Rios and another paramedic protected 18 passengers in a lifeboat  for 18 hours until a Coast Guard cutter recovered them.  All 514 passengers and crew were rescued.  This was called "one of the greatest ship disasters of all time and the largest totally successful air-sea rescue in maritime history." Sgt Rios was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and many other honors.

A01 GARZA, MARCOS ALBERTO   29 OCT 1990 - 06 JAN 1991 [Age 2 months, son of Mariano Garza Jr. and his wife Sylvia Rios Garza, Ceballos-Diaz FHM]

B01 RIOS, DANIEL F 18 AUG 1935 - 7 JUN 1990  

C01 RIOS, JOSE 29 JUL 1954 - 14 OCT 1989 [Military marker in storage pending erection of canopy over gravesite. USAF  1974-1981  Sgt Paramedic . 41st Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron.  DFC]