Betty Torrellas Martinez

Betty Torrellas Martinez, daughter of Arturo Torrellas and Carmen Tomassini, was born on February 26, 1939 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. She grew up having a tight bond with her sisters, Carmen Torrellas Aldea, Pitty Torrellas Masso, and Ana Elvira Torrellas Martin. Although her mother wanted to name her Beatriz, her father registered her as Betty and she was the only one of his daughters without a middle name or nickname. She had a modest, family oriented upbringing with Christian values. Betty was beautiful inside and out. She was always driven, independent, caring, and dedicated to those she loved. As a young woman, she married her only boyfriend, Felix Francisco Martinez. Felix was a student at the engineering college in Mayaguez where they met. Once married, they relocated to San Juan where they began their new family. Tragically, her first pregnancy ended prematurely when she fell in the bathtub. Her second pregnancy brought in their first born, Felix Arturo, named after his father and maternal grandfather. Sadly, her second child, Maria, passed away within a couple of weeks of being born. After such loss, joy returned when she gave birth to another baby girl, Vanessa de Lourdes. Two and a half years later, Elaine Marie was born and thirteen months later she had Julian Alberto. Betty was a working mother who was dedicated to providing her children a stable home and a Christian education. Her strong family values were evident in her commitment to maintain close ties with her sisters. While we lived in Puerto Rico, we spent almost every Sunday with Titi Pitty, Tio Pepe, and their kids either in “el campo” in San Lorenzo or their house in “Santa Maria”. Titi Chiry, Tio Cigfre, and their kids would also join in the fun. Titi Mengui, Tio Finco, and their kids lived in Orlando which gave us many opportunities to come to Disney World. Her family ties were a great comfort and support as her marriage became increasingly more difficult to sustain. This was a very difficult time in Betty’s life but she remained committed to her husband and her children. She was determined to maintain some level of stability for her children and assumed her parenting role alone while relying on her sisters for continued emotional and moral support. Around 1978 when she felt there was no hope for her marriage and she considered divorce, Betty had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. As a result, she became a born again Christian when she accepted Him as her Lord and Savior. At the time, many said she found religion but that was not the case. Betty grew up very religious but this was different. She had a personal encounter with the living God and her life was never the same again. Jesus became real to her and she developed a personal relationship with Him. For the first time in her life, she understood John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life.” She knew then that His love for us is real and immeasurable. She received a peace she had never felt before and realized that although she was not worthy of salvation, Jesus took her place on the cross. Romans 3:23 tells us we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Salvation wasn’t something she could earn but rather a gift of God’s mercy and grace that she only needed to receive. In receiving His grace, she received Jesus, His peace, His love, and the fulfillment that only comes from Him. In 1981, Felix and Betty decided to relocate to Orlando to start a new chapter in their lives. Full of faith and courage, they sold everything in Puerto Rico and started over again. Although the transition was hard for Betty and she missed her sisters in Puerto Rico, she remained committed to providing a better future for her family. While our Dad worked as a Civil Engineer, Mom earned her license in real estate and successfully practiced until she retired in 2008. Once settled in Orlando, Mom and Dad became active members of El Calvario Church. This provided our family an opportunity to develop new friendships with other Hispanic families and to grow in our faith. For several years, Mom led an interdenominational women's ministry where women would get together quarterly for breakfast, fellowship, worship, and ministry. She felt called to establish and lead this ministry which was a blessing to many women in the area. Although it was a lot of added work to her already full plate, she felt honored and blessed to be able to provide this opportunity to bring unity to the body of Christ. Mom had a wonderful sense of humor and could be quite a prankster. It would not be unusual for her to hide and scare me as I walked around the corner when I got home from work. Later, I would turn the tables and do it to her. Whenever I really scared her, she would remind me she had a heart condition and I could kill her by scaring her. Then, we would both laugh. Her grandkids quickly picked-up on her love of laughter and were always very playful with her as she was with them. Many years ago, when the grandkids were still young, we rented condos on the beach so she could be with all of her grandkids at once. We had given the kids glow in the dark sticks to play with. As they were in the bathroom with the lights off admiring the glow in the dark phenomenon, they conspired to scare Abuela. They decided to stand in the shower, behind the shower curtain, to wait for her to come in and use the glow in the dark sticks and spooky sound effects to scare her. Mom came into the bathroom and when they started their shenanigans, Mom pretended to be scared as she slowly approached the shower and turned the faucet on. The kids screamed and ran out of the shower as it started to rain on them. Mom could not stop laughing! She turned the prank on them and they learned they needed to be savvier if they were ever going to get the master prankster. As we got older, became adults, and had kids of our own, we followed her example and worked to maintain our close relationships with one another. Our vacations were times with each other and times for the grandkids to be with Abuela. She always looked forward to seeing her children and grandchildren. Much like Mom ensured we had close ties to our Titis, Tios, and cousins growing up, it was equally important for us to have the kids grow up building strong bonds, relationships, and memories with their cousins. On one of those trips to Virginia, we had been exploring some underground caves where we saw a lot of bats hanging from the ceiling. Really exciting stuff for young kids. To make the kids laugh, Mom ran across the parking lot batting her black coat up and down as she yelled, “I’m a bat, I’m a bat!” Needless to say, she had all of us laughing. In March 2021, we all gathered in a cabin in North Georgia. On April fool’s day, Mom’s mantle of pranks was passed on once again as the kids conspired to prank the parents by pretending they broke a large screen TV. The adults decided to prank back much like Mom would do. As the kids stood downstairs to take a group photo, the adults were upstairs with containers full of water they happily dumped on the kids. Once again, laughter and memories were the theme of our time together. Mom loved to laugh, loved people, and loved to love on people. She would often show up with a gift or a treat for no reason. She’d say, I saw these earrings and thought of you. If she knew you liked it, she would get it for you. I always appreciated coming home to a surprise pint of Ben and Jerry’s New York Super fudge ice cream just because. I later returned the favor, often showing up with a cup of her favorite Starbucks coffee and lemon loaf for no reason other than because she liked it. She never turned down a Starbucks decaf latte! She could be counted on to pray for you, to give you a helping hand, to be your confidant, and to give you advice (solicited and unsolicited). I always admired her independence, her strength, her faith, her conviction, her compassion, her giving heart, and her willingness to speak her mind. As a Torrellas, she also had a stubborn streak that I inherited from her as well as my dad. Ay Dios mio!!! Later in life, that stubbornness served her well as she fought for her health. She was an amazing friend and my best friend for sure! She loved to travel and to spend time with her loved ones. She loved children and especially babies. She would often wave, smile, talk, and attempt to play with strangers’ babies. The sight of a baby always brought a smile to her face. She was an outstanding cook and her rice was the best ever. You name it, hers was the best! Arroz con Chorizo, Arroz con Gandules, Arroz con Pollo, Arroz con Salchicha, Arroz Mamposteao, Arroz con Maiz, Arroz con Pimientos... For her, nothing was better than being a grandmother or an Abuela as she is known to her grandkids. Her six grandchildren crowned her with happiness, Nathaniel, Juliansito, Elizabeth, Zackary, Isaac, and Sammy. She deeply loved you, was proud of each of you, and loved spending time with you. It was interesting to see this strict disciplinarian who once threw a bowl of cornflakes over my head for not eating them get upset when her grandchild was denied dessert for not finishing dinner. The same woman who spanked us, sometimes with a belt, now called us militants and too strict when we put the kids in time out for disobedience. She was an amazing Abuela who loved playing and laughing with her six crown jewels, her “nietos”. They loved her right back and were always very affectionate with her. It was not unusual to see her grandkids help get her up or walk or push her wheelchair or help her eat or give her medicine. She always loved their attention and they brought much joy to her life. We are so grateful for the privilege of calling her Mom or Mami. She loved us unconditionally, taught us to live honestly, to be giving, to be forgiving, to love others, to serve, to not be materialistic, and to love the Lord our God above all things. A few years ago, we discovered the handwritten letters she left for each of us expressing how she felt about us and giving us a charge for the future. At the time she wrote them, there was no way for her to predict her mind and handwriting would not be the same again making the letters even more meaningful to us. The beauty of this act is in the precious expression of her love, once again expressed, in a beautiful keepsake letter. As her children, we strive to live by her example to put family first, to put our trust in the Lord, to love deeply, to work hard, to be generous, to support each other, and to laugh. Although her physical absence has left a deep gap in our hearts, we are at peace knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she is with our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, she is whole, healed, restored, enjoying the presence of Jesus, and laughing once again. If she were here today, she would tell you that she wants nothing more than for you to know that peace. It is a peace you can experience now. The Bible says that if you seek, you shall find, and if you knock, it shall be opened. She discovered that Jesus longed to have a relationship with her and that His love for her was greater than any love she had ever known. As you reflect on Betty’s life, your relationship with her, and what she meant to you, we encourage you to pray. We encourage you to ask Jesus to reveal himself to you, to reveal His love for you, and to allow you to experience the peace that Betty experienced since she met Him. If you seek Him, you will find Him. We thank you for loving our Mom and loving us. We appreciate your prayers, your comfort, your support, and your presence here today. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26 A Memorial Service will be held from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at DeGusipe Funeral Home, 1400 Matthew Paris Boulevard, Ocoee, FL 32273. Due to the increase of Covid 19+ Delta varient, masks will be required of everyone attending. Thank you for your compliance and understanding. For those wishing to attend virtually, please click on this link service time: https://www.facebook.com/DeGusipeFH/ The family of Betty Torrellas Martinez invites you to leave a message of condolence on the Tribute Wall created in her loving memory.

Betty Torrellas Martinez

February 26, 1939 - July 29, 2021