I met Edgar Torres, when he was 11 years of age, while he attended Piru Elementary School. The family lived in the Colina Vista apartments.

His loving mother, Aida Pizano, remembers those were very hard times for the family. She was a single-parent with a 1-month old baby and eight more children, all consisting of 5 boys and 3 girls. Aida Pizano drew inner strength from her faith and courageously tackled the raising her family of nine children on her own. Aida told me she would take the early Piru Vista van then walk to work at Taco Bell in Fillmore, in later years would transfer to the Santa Paula Taco Bell Store. Edgar and mom worked together at Taco Bell in Fillmore as soon as he got his work permit.

Aida remembers that, though Sergio and Yaira were his older siblings, Edgar took charge of his younger siblings seeing them to Piru Elementary School in the mornings, rain or shine. Later after school, when mom arrived late at 5 PM, when she received extra hours at work, Edgar would pick up his littlest siblings from the next door babysitter, others from school and get everybody to do their homework.

On his own, Edgar took on the lead male role in the house, when his older brother Sergio married young. Mom said that Edgar took on a lot of responsibility and provided counseling to his younger brothers and sisters. He would tell them the importance of going to school and to not miss school! Edgar also enjoyed cooking dinner and did so for his siblings. Mom would call from work to check on the kids and Edgar would give her a full report. Mom arrived home tired from work, but relieved that everybody was home safe and everything was in order at home. Mom said says she was always grateful to Edgar for being so responsible. He knew his mother depended on him and he felt it was up to him to help his mother.

Mom Aida recalls how in these recent years, after dinner both would sit in the back patio, chatting away together for hours until it got dark and it was time to come in. Edgar was a very good and loving son and close friend to her.

Edgar Torres, 24, recently passed away recently. Edgar graduated from Fillmore High School in 2009 and always remembered his dear teacher Ms. Trina Tafoya. Edgar was working as an Agriculture and Landscaping Maintenance worker during the week, worked construction jobs and washed cars on weekends with his good friend Alex “Fresh” Chessani. He also worked at Subway in Fillmore and was the Ventura Subway Store Manager. He had plans to buy a car wash business and a construction concrete mixer business. Edgar’s long-held dream was to purchase a big family house for his mother and all his brothers and sisters.

Edgar’s older brother, Sergio raved that without a doubt, Edgar Torres was THE BIGGEST Raider’s Fan around - Period. Besides football, Edgar also loved other sports, such as basketball, softball and boxing. Edgar trained in boxing for some time, too.

Edgar had recently gathered his brother Sergio and close friends, and formed his own Fillmore “Short Fuse” softball team. Coach and Captain Edgar played one game as team pitcher recently. Sergio recalls Edgar as always being happy, never mad and walking in anywhere and being the “Life of the Party!.”

Favorite food for Edgar was his mom’s “Tacos de Machaca (shredded beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and HOT salsa), as well as, her red Chicken Enchiladas, and yummy Pózole. He LOVED his papaya fruit! “It was no secret that Edgar was a good eater!”, Sergio shared with laughter.

Sergio loved his brother Edgar’s positive energy and the great vibe that he would bring where ever he would go. He would give a lot of good, welcomed advice when people were down. He always had the right words to say, was a really positive and very caring individual. Edgar would always try to help everybody.

Still, he was also the biggest jokester around with brothers and sisters. Always clowning around and would love to imitate people with funny physical postures; like imitating his brother Sergio, when Sergio was sick and mopping around feeling sorry for himself.

Edgar will always be in the hearts and minds of his loving mother Aida Pizano, and his loving brothers and sisters: Sergio, Yaira, Carla, Matthew, Cecilia, Jose Luis, and Bryan. He was a wonderful Godfather to his beautiful nieces Liliana and Natalia, as well as, loving his nephew Sergio, Jr.

Edgar Torres was a loving son, grandson, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and good friend to many and always found a way to put a smile on everyone's face. Edgar, rest in peace. You did a very good job while here on this earth.