Lucien A. Torrez

Torrez, Lucien A.
92, of Rancho Viejo, Texas, and Hayden, Ariz., passed away on Saturday, April 16, 2011, at Canterbury Court in Harlingen, Texas after suffering for several years with Alzheimer's Disease. Mr. Torrez was a long time resident of Rancho Viejo and served on the City Council as alderman for a number of years. With a background in chemical engineering, he was appointed by then Texas Gov. George Bush to a committee to coordinate industrial disaster responses along the Rio Grande River between Brownsville, TX and Matamoros, Mexico in the 1990s. He also tutored math and English at the Villareal Elementary School in Olmito, TX. In the 1930s, Mr. Torrez moved from Arizona to Indiana and graduated from Indiana Institute of Technology. His career as a chemical engineer for US Steel took him from Chicago, IL to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island and Pittsburgh, PA. He finished his career with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Chicago, IL, before retiring to Texas. Mr. Torrez served in the US Air Force during WWII and Korea rising to the rank of Major. He met his wife, Maureen, while stationed in England during WWII. They were married for 49 years until her death in Rancho Viejo in 1993. Mr. Torrez was an avid golfer. Said his son Brian, "He still had a full backswing well into his 80s and could shoot his age or better. They don't make guys like him any
more." Mr. Torrez is survived by sons Larry of Reno, NV, Brian of Chicago, daughter Gail of Crystal Falls, MI and brother R. A. Gonzales of Sun City, AZ
and many nieces and nephews in the Tempe and Phoenix areas. Mr. Torrez
donated his body for medical research. He will eventually be buried in Mammoth, AZ next to his wife, Maureen, and mother, Serita Armendariz Torrez.