Estella Maria Torres

Estella Maria (Gutierrez) Torres, 74, of Cedar Lake, Indiana passed away on Thursday, June 6, 2024 at Franciscan Health hospital in Crown Point, Indiana. Estella was born on October 26, 1949 in East Chicago, Indiana to the late Eusebio and Tomasa (Barajaz) Gutierrez. She married Ramiro “Rocky” Torres on July 26, 1969. He preceded her in death on August 12, 2018. 

Estella graduated from Hammond High School in Hammond, Indiana in 1967 and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1994 from Purdue University Calumet (now Purdue University Northwest), also in Hammond. She worked for a number of years as a pre-kindergarten teacher at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parochial school in the Hessville neighborhood of Hammond. Later in life, she helped to run Rocky and Stella’s Brew Pub and Grill and also Rocky and Stella’s Pizza, both in Schererville, Indiana. She attended Cedar Lake United Methodist Church in Cedar Lake, Indiana. 

 Estella enjoyed reading books, sewing, crocheting, working alongside her husband in the family restaurants, and spending quiet time gardening in her yard. She was a fan of the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, and the Purdue Boilermakers, and liked to watch football and basketball games and more recently women’s basketball and soccer with her son. She instilled unending curiosity and a drive for education in her son and daughter. She will be greatly missed.

 Estella is survived by her children George Torres of Cedar Lake, Indiana and Josette Torres of Blacksburg, Virginia; siblings Raymond Gutierrez, V. Guadalupe Jacques, Juanita Irene Escobedo (late Pedro), David Gutierrez (Rachel), Thomas Gutierrez (late Barb), Jovita Cavazos (late Manuel), Phillip Gutierrez (Diane), Vincent Gutierrez (Debra), Victor Gutierrez, Danny Gutierrez, Blas Gutierrez (late Christina), Maria Olivia Vega (late Jose), and Lydia Rachel Molloy (Pete); and numerous nieces and nephews. Estella was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brothers Roberto Zacarias Gutierrez (Sue) and Eusebio “Charlie” Gutierrez, Jesse Gutierrez and a baby daughter, also named Estella, at birth.

 Special thanks to Estella’s niece Tencia Serrano and funeral director Donna Adkins for their assistance during this difficult time. 

 A memorial Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Hammond, Indiana on Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. She will be laid to rest next to her husband Rocky at Ridge Lawn Cemetery in Gary, Indiana.

 In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to one of the following organizations.

 Cedar Lake United Methodist Church’s Project Love Food Pantry: https://www.cedarlakeinumc.org/project-love-food-pantry/

 Purdue University Northwest’s scholarship fund: https://www.pnw.edu/giving/

 The Big Shoulders Fund, supporting Catholic education in Chicago and Northwest Indiana:

https://bigshouldersfund.org/donate/give/

 Stemm-Lawson-Peterson Funeral Home, 1531 Cobblestone Blvd., Elkhart, Indiana is assisting Estella’s family. Online condolences may be sent to her family at www.stemmlawsonpeterson.com