Marie Teresa Rios

Marie Teresa Ríos
Marie Teresa "Tere" Ríos
Born	November 9, 1917 Brooklyn, New York
Died	October 17, 1999 Sarasota, Florida
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Nationality	Irish/Puerto Rican-American
Occupation	author
Spouse(s)	Humbert Joseph Versace
Children	Humbert Roque, Stephen, Richard, Michael and Trilby Versace
Notes
1. Authored "The Fifteenth Pelican" which was the basis for the 1960s television sitcom, The Flying Nun. 2. Mother of Medal of Honor recipient Humbert Roque Versace and of Dick Versace, former coach of the Indiana Pacers.

Marie Teresa Ríos (pen name "Tere Ríos") (November 9, 1917 – October 17, 1999) was the author of the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican which was the basis for the 1960s Screen Gems television sitcom, The Flying Nun. Ríos was the mother of Humbert Roque Versace, the first U.S. Army Prisoner of war in Southeast Asia awarded the Medal of Honor.

Ríos was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Rafael Rios, a native of Puerto Rico who moved and settled in the New York City borough of Brooklyn in the early part of the 20th century and to Marie Teresa Dowd, an American of Irish heritage. Ríos was proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and a devout Catholic who became interested in writing at a young age.

In the 1930s, she met and married Humbert Joseph Versace, a 1933 graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point). Together they had five children, Humbert Roque, twins Stephen and Richard Versace (former coach of the Indiana Pacers), Michael and Trilby. As an Army wife, she traveled to different places around the world, including Hawaii, where her first child, Humbert Roque was born.

During World War II, Ríos (also known as Marie Teresa Ríos Versace ) drove Army trucks and buses. She also served as a pilot for the Civil Air Patrol. Ríos wrote and edited for various newspapers around the world, including places such as Guam, Germany, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, and publications such the Armed Forces Star & Stripes and Gannett.