Betty Irene Torre, 88

Betty Irene Torre passed away on April 17, 2020 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She was 88 years old.

Betty was born in Rensselaer, Ind., to Robert and Naomi Mayhew. Later, the family moved to the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove, and she attended the Moody Bible Institute. After graduating Betty moved to California, where she worked with Campus Crusade for Christ on the UC Berkeley campus. She married Joe Torre and they had three children together. She settled in San Diego, where she lived for 50 years.

Betty attended Sawyer Business School and became an executive secretary for NCR Corporation. She was an active member of her local church.

She raised her three children on her own and enjoyed traveling with her family and frequently vacationed in Yosemite National Park and other sites throughout California. On one occasion she embarked on an extensive road trip with her children, driving from San Diego to Victoria, B.C. Last summer, Betty and two of her children and her granddaughter were able to revisit Victoria, where she enjoyed exploring many of the same sites that she and her children had visited several decades earlier.

Betty stayed active in her retirement, traveling to Europe, the Holy Land and Australia. Closer to home she was active in her own community, serving on the community council and reading stories to children at the local elementary and middle schools. She established a local holiday festival to celebrate art and music and to encourage the children of her community to develop a love of reading. She served as chair of the festival for nearly 20 years. The festival continues to this day. In addition, she served as a docent at San Diego’s Timken Museum of Art, where she loved sharing the beautiful paintings and artworks with visitors from all over the world. Betty delighted in visiting the Hotel Del Coronado and other points of interest in San Diego with her children and grandchildren. She also enjoyed attending the theater, the symphony and the ballet.

In recent years, she moved to Coeur d’Alene, to live with her sister, Carol Tapia and brother-in-law, Alfred Tapia. She was laid to rest in a private family service at Riverview Cemetery in Coeur d’Alene, on April 24, 2020.

Betty had a great sense of humor, a kind heart, a strong faith and a desire to give back to her community. She enjoyed traveling, spending time with family and friends and all forms of the arts — from painting, to music, to theater and classical literature.

She is survived by her brother, Perry Mayhew (Bea) of McHenry, Ill.; her sister, Carol Tapia (Alfred) of Coeur d’Alene; her daughter, April Torre of San Diego; and sons Paul Torre (Amelia) of Cedar Falls, Iowa and Dan Torre (Lienors) of Melbourne, Australia; and four grandchildren.

Please visit Betty’s online memorial and sign her guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com. Yates Funeral Home has been entrusted with the care of final arrangements.