ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. — Lena Randazzo Torres, the legendary St. Bernard Parish figure who spent 72 years in the Clerk of Court’s office, including serving as clerk for 24 years, died Friday. She was 100.
Her grandson, Sidney Torres IV, said Mrs. Torres died Friday morning at home surrounded by family.
Known across the parish as “Miss Lena,” Torres celebrated her 100th birthday in January. The St. Bernard Parish Council designated it as "Lena Torres Day," and tributes came from friends, colleagues and admirers.
“Isn’t it wonderful to be remembered by so many people,” Mrs. Torres told The Times-Picayune at the time.
In a statement Friday, St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis called Torres a "great woman."
"Ms. Lena was a true public servant and spent the majority of her 100 years on this earth serving the residents of St. Bernard Parish," he said.
According to the newspaper, Mrs. Torres first went to work for the clerk of court’s office in 1939. After working there for 18 years, she spent 30 years as the deputy clerk to her husband, Sidney Torres Jr.
After he died in 1988, she became the clerk then held the job for another 24 years. She famously never took a long vacation or called in sick.
“I always enjoyed my job, and compared to work on the farm (as a child), I felt like work in the office was being on vacation,” she said.
Mrs. Torres grew up on a farm near Violet. The farm was owned by Louis "Doc" Meraux, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff. As a teenager, she helped Meraux with bookkeeping while her younger brothers went into the bakery business with their father, later popularizing the famous Randazzo king cakes.
Soon, Mrs. Torres went to work for the clerk of court. She was friends with the daughter of the clerk at the time, Anthony Nunez.
Two years after she began working there, she met Sidney Torres Jr. They married the next year.
Mr. Torres became clerk of court in 1956 and Lena became his chief deputy.
When he died in 1988, Mrs. Torres was the natural choice to take over. She went on to win six elections for the job.
After Hurricane Katrina decimated the parish, Mrs. Torres led the rebuild of the office, commuting from Slidell. According to the newspaper, she received help from other clerks of court and the Louisiana Supreme Court to reconstruct 68,000 active criminal files, losing only 5% of the cases.
Within weeks, she reopened the courthouse to allow folks to record their marriages, divorces, property sales, mortgages and the like.
“Her whole mission in life was to be a public servant,” said Walter Boasso, a former state senator from St. Bernard Parish, in an interview with the newspaper.
She was defeated in her bid for a seventh term in 2011 but kept working, joining the staff at the law office of her son, Sidney Torres III.
On Friday, Sidney Torres IV called his grandmother the "rock" of the family.
"She was the person I went to when it was bad and when it was good. She never judged, she would listen and give her advice when asked. She was a peacemaker, she always wanted everyone to get along," he said.
"It's been amazing to see the tremendous support and love we've received - not only from politicians, from friends, family, but the stories of people that she's helped."
In addition to her son and two grandsons, survivors include a daughter and four great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, March 18 at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church, 2320 Paris Road, Chalmette. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.