‘Coach Torres’ leaves legacy few Taoseños will forget
Fidel Carlos Torres “Coach Torres,” a stalwart of the Taos school system, died in October, leaving a legacy few will forget.
Torres was born Feb.
16, 1930 to Fidel and Elvira (Struck) Torres in Talpa, New Mexico. He was one of 11 children.
In school, he learned to speak and understand English while his classmates were learning numbers, colors and the ABC’s. It took Torres three years to pass the sixth-grade because of low attendance. As the eldest of six boys, his father needed his help tending the sheep up in the mountain pastures.
Still, he graduated high school and then served as a tank commander for the U.S. Army in the Korean conflict
1950 to 1952 when he was honorably discharged. He was proud that his entire tank crew came back safe from the war.
While in the Army, Torres married his sweetheart, Virginia Pilar Lucero, on Sept 11,
1951.
After his military service, he attended New Mexico Highland University in Las Vegas, New Mexico using the GI Bill and earned his teaching degree. After brief employment in Anton Chico, Vadito and Peñasco, he was hired as a health and physical education teacher with the Taos school district in 1960. During the summers of the
‘60s, Torres also earned additional income with his work in the Forest Service. Teaching in the junior high, coach Torres was also the football, basketball and track coach for the Taos Pirates.
His career as a PE teacher and coach allowed him to help shape the lives of not only athletes but many other students as well. Known for his stern teaching skills, many students-athletes, boys and girls, learned the meaning of fairness.
His son Robert Torres, always said his dad was fair and showed no favoritism. “I’m living proof my dad showed no favoritism,” he said. “I didn’t have the athletic skills of my brothers, and even though I was a coach’s son, in eighth-grade I still only managed to make the C squad in basketball. My dad rarely if ever cut a player. He felt, all who tried should have a chance to make the team.”
Not only was he a teacher and coach, but as the athletic director, his influence reached out to virtually all students in the junior high as he was responsible for the school gymnasium. He was there for all sorts of activities from speeches to afternoon sock hops and evening dances or simply unlocking the gym early so students could have somewhere to get out of the cold before school started.
When his wife Virginia and three sons (Stephen, Robert and Paul) and their little sister (Carla) moved to Taos, they bought a one-bedroom home. The three sons slept in what is now the laundry room.
As the kids grew and Novella joined the family, more bedrooms were needed, and Fidel Torres added on to his home on Herdner Street – one adobe at a time. The adobes were made in a homemade mold that could make two adobes at a time, each measuring 12 by 8 by 4 inches.
The three boys, ages 6,
7 and 8 were responsible (under his oversight) to mix the clay, straw and water to the right consistency (in a wheelbarrow), then pour or shovel the mud into the handmade mold (making sure to push the mud evenly into every corner), flip the mold onto the clean ground and lift, without harming the shape of the adobe. The adobe bricks then dried in the sun two to three days before standing them on edge, chipping away uneven edges, drying for another day and then stacked for use on the three-bedroom, one-bath addition.
This didn’t get completed in a year. In year two, Fidel Torres continued with the construction with his now learned crew of children, ages
7, 8 and 9. Carla, age 5, contributed by lifting her jeans above the knee and helping to mix the mud mixture with her bare feet.
Using a string to keep the adobes walls straight and level, he constructed the addition. The vigas (logs) he used for the ceilings and roof came from his land in the mountains of Guadalupita, which as you would expect, he cut, trimmed and peeled by himself and whatever friends or family were available.
As mentioned earlier, Fidel Torres showed no favoritism. As the older siblings graduated high school and left for college or the military, he put youngest daughter Novella to work adding on a beautiful, yet rustic-looking, front and back porch.
A hardworking man, he raised cattle and hogs to augment the family food budget even separating a calf from its mother overnight,so he could milk her in the morning, bringing the fresh milk home to his family. Fidel loved the mountains and enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping. His kids grew to love the countryside and still enjoy camping today. The brothers still go on yearly hunts for deer and elk.
Fidel and Virginia raised all five kids to earn respectable jobs with families of their own. His children gave him 14 grandchildren (two deceased, Christopher and Patrick) plus one extra by marriage. The remaining grandchildren have given their grandparents nine great-grandchildren plus three more by marriage. Fidel is also survived by five of his siblings and numerous nieces and nephews.
Fidel, “Coach” Torres, died peacefully in his sleep, at his home with his family at his side. His eulogy, given by eldest grandson, Matthew Torres, and the funeral mass Oct. 19 were held at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ranchos de Taos where Fidel Torres was a lifelong member. He proudly participated in the annual mudding of the church exterior.
Interment is tentatively set for June 14, 2019, at the Santa Fe National Military Cemetery in Santa Fe.
The family of Fidel “Coach” Torres wants to thank all who shared their compassion, condolences, prayers, thoughts, cards and other gifts during this trying time.