Consuelo R. Torres

On October 15, 2019, Consuelo Moreno was met with open arms by her husband, Othon, at the gates of heaven. A mother and two-times-great-grandmother, Consuelo, leaves a legacy of values through her offspring that extend from Seattle to New York City. At the time of her departure, she had three granddaughters that themselves are grandmothers. She was born in La Noria, Zacatecas on November 28, 1922, to Armando Ramirez a mechanic and Belen Flores a domestic caretaker. She then moved to Sombrerete, Zacatecas, circa 1929, with her beloved aunt Margarita Euzarraga to attend school--given that there were no schools in La Noria. Having completed her schooling to become a teacher Consuelo at a very young age joined the national initiative in Mexico to expand public secular education into rural areas. As she explained, she was part of new vision that true development could come only if the education of the majority populace extended well beyond that of the rudiments of literacy. She fondly remembers teaching students that were almost her age, some of who unsuccessfully asked her out on dates. She left Sombrerete for Juarez at the age of 27 to marry the love of her life Othon Moreno Torres, an employee for Southern Pacific Railroad in the U.S. They lived on Nicaragua Street in Juarez and upon authorization of her U.S. citizenship moved to El Paso. Several years later they moved to the Colonia Melchoro Campo in Juarez with their three children. While Othon was away most of the week working in New Mexico and Arizona as a master carpenter for the “SP” Consuelo concentrated on their three children and her professional career. Living in Juarez enabled her to teach at Luis Cabrera Elementary and El Colegio Latino Americano. It was a good life and the family was celebrated in the neighborhood for having the first television set. Her younger daughter, Victoria, remembers taking three buses with her mother beginning at Melchoro Campo in Juarez and ending at Beall Elementary School in El Paso. While Victoria attended kindergarten, her mother would wait outside under the shade of a tree until Victoria’s classes were over to take her back home. Shortly thereafter, and at the forfeiture of her valued professional career, the family relocated to El Paso, to facilitate the educational endeavors of their own children. In 1963, tragedy struck when Othon died of a heart attack leaving Consuelo a young widow with three little children in a country whose language she did not speak. Fortunately as a member of the railroad workers’ union, he left Consuelo with a pension. Although modest, it did enable her to raise her three children without having to work outside the house. Consuelo never re-married, devoting herself to her children and their offspring. With adult children, she focused her attention on her grandchildren and subsequent great-grandchildren all of who benefited from her daycare services. Arriving home from school she would have extra lessons waiting for them. In time, neighbors also started sending their kids to her for tutoring. Consuelo insisted that her methods for teaching math were much better than those in the U.S. She may have had a point since her grandkids and many of her students navigated the subject much more readily than most; including one grandson that went on to get a PhD in math at a world renown university. Although of humble background, Consuelo always insisted on making a good presentation, a habit that remained with her throughout life. Her older daughter Leonor fondly remembers how she would receive correction when appearing in “fachas”, or clothes that were too casual. A devout Roman Catholic, Consuelo was dedicated to the Virgen de Guadalupe. Her amazing faith never wavered and was the source of her strength. She started as a member of Guardian Angel and in her later years attended St. Peter and St. Paul. Consuelo is survived by her three children Leonor Reyes (Ruben), Arturo Moreno (Analinda Villarreal), and Victoria Eugenia Villa (Luis); eight grandchildren Alicia Gonzalez (Pilo), Elizabeth Reyes (Tony Sosa), Erika Yvette Delgado (Carlos), Robert Aguirre (Jessica Clark), Armando Moreno, Luis Manuel Villa III (Debra Valdez), Michael Villa, and Stephen Villa; thirteen great-grandchildren Amber Marie Balderas, Illiana Ruby Diaz, Matias Tarango, Priscilla Tarango, Celina Nicholle Delgado, Carlos Abraham Delgado, Ruben Delgado, Christian Landeros, Seth Michaeel Villa, Katelyn Victoria Villa, Alaina Nicole Villa, Matthew Ryan Villa, and Joaquín Arturo Aguirre; and four great-great-grandchildren Zoe Alexandra Rodriguez, Layla Jane Rodriguez, Anthony Mendoza and Eian Delgado. Visitation will be held Sunday, October 20th from 4-8 pm. at Sunset Funeral Home-Americas, 9521 N. Loop Drive. Funeral mass, to be celebrated the following day at 10 am by Monsignor Arturo Banuelas, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 673 Old Hueco Tanks Road. Family and friends are cordially invited to share in the commemoration of her life. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home-Americas.