Carmen Torres

Carmen Maria Torres was a wife, mother, grandma, and great grandma. Who passed away suddenly on June 13, 2020. Carmen Maria Torres was one of seven children born and raised in rural Puerto Rico in the province of Ponce in 1922. My mother was always very poor and proud to be poor, and because she was poor her life was hard. She married and had four children, Elizabeth, Lillian, Ferdinand, and Edwin who passed in 2016. My mom was a pioneer. She came over on one of the first commercial flights from her native Puerto Rico to start a life with my father in 1947 in her twenties. She spoke little English, but she was spirited and stepped up to the challenge. She bravely stepped out on the sidewalk a few days after arriving and looked for work; luckily she found work as a seamstress. My mom was so intelligent, she dreamed of being a teacher but as a girl in the 1930�s, education was hard to come by. She had a love of reading and passed that love on to the four of us. One of my best memories was of our mom taking my baby brother in the carriage with the three of us young children so excited about getting our library cards! Inspiring in us a lifelong love of reading. We traveled back and forth to her beloved Puerto Rico and taught us a love of the culture that nurtured her. She was very proud of being both Puerto Rican and an American citizen. She always voted right up to last year at the age of 96. There were many things that my mom was: feisty, opinionated, stubborn, but devoted to her Catholic Church and Family. She loved to dance and had a childlike wonder and awe of nature. Especially the birds; I will a lifelong feeder of birds in her honor. She loved swimming in the river as a child. She lost our father, her husband in 1988, just five years after purchasing their first home. She continued on her own to finish paying off the mortgage and was the proud owner of her own home. She so loved caring for her big backyard and was so proud of her Rose Garden. After my father�s death she volunteered in the foster grandparents program at St. Vincent�s Hospital. She helped care for the children and translated for the Spanish speaking parents when needed. She was very independent and with the support from her children she was able to stay in her own home. We were devoted to her, she loved us fiercely and we adored and loved her. My mother was pure love. We will miss her with all of our hearts.

Carmen Torres

December 22, 1922 - June 13, 2020