Together with Simone, his beloved wife of almost 50 years, they had four children: Monique, Mireille, Michele and Ricky.  He was well loved by his son-in-law Curtis and his daughter-in-law Sandy. Mario had 8 grandchildren: Sarah and her husband Raymond, Raquel and her husband Richard, Sam, Zoe, Lucca, Gabriella, Jake and Elijah. He had the wonderful fortune of knowing his four great-grandchildren: Jay, Jillian, Adalina and Emma. Mario was close to many beloved family members and friends.

 

As a chaplain for Casa de la Luz Hospice, I have the privilege of meeting many wonderful people.  It was my good fortune to be the chaplain who visited Mario the day before he passed. He held my hand and smiled his big beautiful smile for me several times during my visit.  It is an honor to be a small part of his and the family’s journey through this transitional moment in time. 

 

Hesped/Eulogy for Mario Torres Soria

First-born son to José and Carmen Soria in La Paz, Bolivia, Mario was the oldest of four children.  His father José was a successful businessman who owned gold and silver mines.  Mario’s sister Carmen came along next and not long after when he was only two years old, their mother passed away. His father remarried and had two more children, a sister Gilma, still living in Bolivia, and a brother Gonzalo.  From kindergarten through 12th grade Mario went to the American Boarding School near his home in La Paz. He excelled in soccer and played semi-professionally as a young man.  He was involved in political protests against the varying dictatorships.  At one of these protests Mario was shot at by a policeman, which gave him a permanent nick in his ear.

His father wanted him to study chemical engineering and sent him to study at Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio. Mario chose psychology instead, and earned his bachelor’s degree. His father refused to pay for further education because of Mario’s choice. The day before Mario was to head back to Bolivia, he was on his way to an international students picnic, when he saw a beautiful young woman walking toward a bus stop. He said to himself most assuredly, “there comes my wife!”  It happened to be that Simone was also headed to this picnic, and it is there where they first connected.  A week later Mario proposed to Simone!  He did not believe in wasting time, and apparently Simone had had two other proposals for marriage that very same week!  Simone was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family.  Her immediate family miraculously survived the Holocaust, having been hidden in various places in Brussels, Belgium during WWII.  They immigrated to America after the war.

Mario, who grew up Catholic and was an altar boy, became a Quaker in college.  Yet, without hesitation he took on the task of converting to Judaism, so that he and Simone could marry with the blessings of her family.  Mario became very involved with the Jewish community in Cleveland and then later in De Moines, Iowa.  He and Simone became founding members of Kol Israel Foundation, a Cleveland-based organization for survivors of the Holocaust and their supporters.

Simone and Mario spent almost 50 loving years together living out their dreams.  Mario never went back to Bolivia to live, but he loved going back to visit… La Paz remained one of his favorite places on Earth.  He went on to earn a master’s degree in educational psychology and a Ph.D. in philosophy, both at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  

Mario was first hired as a professor at Hiram College in Ohio.  In 1969, Mario was lured by Paul Sharp, then president of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a simple hook:  help us make Drake a gateway to the globe!   He was hired as Chair of the Foreign Language Dept. 

Here he remained until he retired in 1990 and was then named Professor Emeritus of Spanish.  Professor Soria accomplished much in his tenure at Drake.  Of his many achievements he taught Spanish language, literature and theater.  He was a scholar on, and taught courses about, Miguel Cervantes, Latin-American civilization, and the history of Bolivian theater.  He was awarded the Bolivian equivalent of an Obie in 2012, called the Tiqui award, for writing the definitive text on the history of Bolivian theater.  He created the Iber-American Celebration at Drake University, which illuminated various Latin American artists including musicians, visual artists, writers and actors, exposing students to a broad range of creative artists that they otherwise would not have experienced. Mario founded the Institute of Italian Studies, a national program which, over the years, sent thousands of college students abroad to Italy to study Italian language and Italian cultural arts.  In his ‘spare time’ Mario coached Drake’s varsity soccer team!  Mario’s love of learning was infectious to his students, colleagues, and his family. 

His passion for the tango and love for dancing empowered him to teach tango for some time in his younger years, yet he never stopped dancing even though he pursued other passions along the path of his very full life!

Mario was one of the very first recipients of the “Passport to Prosperity” Award by the Iowa Council for International Understanding.  He received this award, in part, for his devoted volunteer services in translating for Latino immigrant families in need of assistance.  In this way he followed in his father’s footsteps as a philanthropist and a giver, insuring underprivileged people were given a chance.

Mario was a very spiritual person. He had a strong belief in angels and also in an afterlife, believing that his soul will reconnect with the soul of his beloved Simone, and that the soul is eternal.  He loved studying Torah, took classes in every aspect of Judaism, and particularly enjoyed the study of Kabbalah, the mystical branch of Judaism.  Mario was a person of deep faith and belief, ever hopeful about people and the world. 

He was a great listener, and his students and family could always come to him and share what was on their hearts and minds.  Mario was kind, positive, and extremely friendly, capable of striking up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, and about anything!

He loved entertaining and often would make big paella dinners and had lots of parties with music and dancing…  all the ingredients that he loved!  Music moved him to dance, no matter what else was going on around him, even if no one else was dancing!

He was ever on the go, full of energy, and endlessly resourceful.  Mario was ingenious – finding solutions to every problem, which at times included a hefty roll of duct tape!  He always had his arms open in a welcoming hug for family and friends; he saw great value in every human being, standing up for people, on many occasions.

Mario, an adventurer who had tremendous stamina and boundless energy, traveled with his wife Simone, and often the family, on journeys all over the world.  Among his favorite places were: La Paz, Bolivia; Lake Titicaca, which is between Peru and Bolivia; Florence, Italy and all of Spain. 

He loved the art of Salvador Dali and he and Simone had the opportunity to meet Dali in New York one time.  Lucca tells me his grandfather’s house was filled with prints of Salvador Dali’s.  Mario was a unique storyteller and often times liked to stretch the truth in the telling… earning him the moniker of Pinocho/Pinocchio!

Upon moving to Tucson, first part-time, then full-time after Simone passed away, Mario became involved in many activities.  He was an honorary member of the Kino Rotary Club, a member of the El Pueblo senior community, and one of the first elders to take advantage of Handmaker’s Jewish Services for the Aging “Adventure Bus” program.  Angela Salmon, Adventure Bus and Development Coordinator, spent much time with Mario and offers this tribute to him:

The beautiful facets of Mario Soria...a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend...an educator, writer, traveler, artist, dancer, music lover, soccer player... Mario had many talents, but most importantly, he had a big heart and a smile that lit up the room. Mario's light shined bright and continues to shine in all of us who knew him.  Forever in our hearts, "Super Mario."  We love you!

 

In 1983, while on a visit to Madrid, Mario and Simone had the gift of a most spontaneous meeting with Mother Teresa of blessed memory.  As she came upon them at the top of a stairwell in a secluded hallway in Plaza Mayor, she said to them, “you are a very nice couple, may God bless you,” she smiled and continued on her way to the limousine that awaited her.  I would like to offer a poem by Mother Teresa, one that Mario loved and published in his spiritual memoir.                

It is called  “Ending in Silence”

Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.

Silence is the beautiful fruit of prayer.

We must learn not only the silence

Of the mouth but also

The silence of the heart,

Of the eyes,

Of the ears

and of the mind,

which I call the five silences.

God is the friend of silence.

See how nature- trees, flowers, grass

grows in silence

 

See the stars,

The moon,

And the sun,

How they move in silence.

In that silence, God will listen to us;

There God will speak to our soul,

And there we will hear God’s voice.

The fruit of silence is faith.

The fruit of faith is prayer.

The fruit of prayer is love.

The fruit of love is service,

And the fruit of service is silence.