Mary Torrence

When I was a teenager, many of my friends would ask if Mary was my sister. Her sparkle always made her seem younger than her years and, let's face it, she was the life of the party! As her eldest a lot was expected of me, but she also made me feel special as well. She bought series concert tickets for the two of us one year (Dad stayed home with the younger ones) and I well remember hearing Marian Anderson, Arthur Rubenstein and a very young Julian Bream that year.
As a...

Imagine being only ten years old and having to take a two-day 1,000 mile train trip across India with your younger brothers in order to attend a boarding school. No wonder travel and adventure were so normal to Mary throughout her life. For those of you who only knew our mother as the sweet polite proper little lady of her later years, we want you to know that Mary was way more complex than that.

We knew Mary as the family prankster when she taught us how to short sheet a bed...

When I first met and fell in love with Mary’s daughter Nancy, the spirit of adventure that Mary imbued in her family was obvious and contagious, and for years I have heard so many stories of escapades led by Mary.
Although my own parents passed earlier, Mary and Ed continued their model of love, fidelity, and honor, and for that I am eternally grateful. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to help Mary through these last 12 years since Ed passed.
I will raise a glass of Mary’s...

he and Ed were a fantastic team in everything they did. Really enjoyed the six years of their journey in Asheville before leaving for Eugene.

We knew and loved Mary and Ed during their Black Mountain years and worked with them for several years in the Black Mountain Pairing Project’s relationship with our sister town in Russia, Krasnaya Polyana. From late 1994 until they moved to Eugene, we were also neighbors on Allen Mountain. Among other things, I remember two dinners in their home when they shared pictures and stories from trips as only they could do! One was after their trip to the Antarctic (dessert was Baked Alaska) and...