Funeral Mass for Irene Torrez Salazar, age 87, of Brownwood will be held Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 1PM at St. Mary’s Queen of Peace Church with Father Francis Njoku officiating. Burial will follow at Greenleaf Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6-8 PM Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at the funeral home. Mrs. Salazar passed away on her birthday, Sunday, April 5, 2015 in her home at Redstone Retirement Village.
Irene was born April 5, 1928 in Brown County, Texas to Isabel and Jesusa Torrez. She was a lifetime member of St. Mary’s Queen of Peace Church. She was married to E. R. Salazar in Waco in 1942. Mrs. Salazar was a woman of many talents. She worked at Brownwood Floral, where the owner shared with her his knowledge of business and finance, JRB Grocery, and later owned Irene’s Drapery in Brownwood, where she put that knowledge to good use.
All family holidays were spent at Irene’s home, where making tamales was a family affair. On Christmas her famous 3-layer carrot cake (made from scratch) became legend. Irene and her home were literally the cornerstones of the family; her front door was always open to everyone, and she took good care of her family, giving her children everything they needed. There were not many men in the family, so Irene took it upon herself to teach her boys to be men. She was loved and will be missed by all who knew her.
Those left behind to cherish her memories are her daughter, Annabelle Salazar; three brothers Isabel Torrez, Jr., Jesse Torrez and Joe Torrez; grandchildren Sally Hernandez, Sophie Ramos, Jessica Garcia, Bino Salazar, Millie Ramos, Priscilla Tobias and Terri Salazar; great grandchildren Kelly Rios, Adrian Rodriquez, Danny Ramos, Renae Rabenschlag, Katrina Ramos, Xavier Martinez, John Bean, Deena Ramos, Christopher Tobias, Isiah Williams, Janet Salazar and Savannah Bean; 14 great great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, E.R. Salazar, parents, son, E.T. “Kelly” Salazar, daughter Odilia Ramos, and sisters, Ofilia Martinez and Loraine Romero.
Online memorials may be made at davismorrisfuneralhome.com.