Eva Raya Torres

Eva is survived by her sons Robert (wife Rosa) and Alex (husband Rob), Grandchildren Bobby (wife Vanessa), Bianca (husband Douglas), Great Grand Children Jay, Ava, Jackson, Ivy, and Olivia, adored nephews and nieces, and her cherished friends. Eva loved her family and friends and was caring, compassionate, and fiercely protective. Eva is preceded in death by her parents, seven siblings, and husband Jim.

She was dedicated to education and most proud of her work with teaching English as a second language. Eva loved walking daily, weekend trips to Santa Barbara, wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley, annual trips to Las Vegas, listening to live music, dancing the night away, and sitting on her patio sipping wine, surrounded by flowers, watching birds, squirrels, and lizards. Although she did not like lizards, they were welcome in her garden. Most of all, she loved having her family and friends together around the table for meals.

Eva was very health conscious and often exclaimed, “Water is life!” She loved water and it probably explains her perfect skin. Eva never wanted to fly, but she flew first class to Seattle for her niece’s wedding in 1999. Her second and final flight in 2006 was for a family and friends’ trip to Napa Valley. It was not first class, but she was thrilled to be with everyone. If Eva did not like the way someone spoke to any of her family, she would verbally take them down. This included how any of us spoke to each other. If she didn’t approve, she pulled us aside and told us. Being a mother and grandmother was everything. She loved picking her grandchildren up from school and having them over for weekend stays.

When Robert (AKA Bobby) was forced against his wishes to be an altar boy in school, Eva went to the monsignor and set him straight. If Robert did not want to be an altar boy, he was not going to be an altar boy! Years later she was less flexible when she insisted that Robert go to Mater Dei even though he wanted to go to public school.

When Alex was born, his father said, “Let’s name him Alexander.” Though Eva nodded in agreement, she did not care for the name Alexander because it was too dramatic for her taste. Unbeknownst to his father, she wrote Alex on the birth certificate. It was many years later that Alex’s father learned his name was not Alexander. As it turns out, Alex got the shortened name, but made up for it in dramatics.

When Eva’s memory was in decline and she was slowly forgetting who people were, she could still sing every lyric of every Englebert Humperdinck song as we drove her to the beauty parlor. In her final years, Eva was blessed to have amazing caregivers in Melissa, Brenda, Rosie, the board & care staff, and her hospice nurse Janice.

Family and friends were everything to Eva.