Olga Herminia Torres

Newport, RI - Olga Herminia Torres, 89, of 31 Red Cross Avenue, Newport, RI, died Sunday, January 30, 2011 at home. Born in Santa Domingo, Santa Clara, Cuba, on December 21, 1921, she was the daughter of the late Herminia Hernandez de Torres and Robert Torres Waugh.At a time when there were not many women physicians, Dr. Torres earned her medical degree from the University of Havana in 1947. She completed surgical and anesthesiology internships as well as a residency in anesthesiology in Havana. After emigrating to the United States in 1950, she completed a residency in anesthesiology at Yale University. Dr. Torres became a naturalized citizen of the United States and settled in Newport, RI, a city she adored and embraced as her own.Dr. Torres began working in Newport Hospital in 1956 where she practiced for over twenty-five years. Her colleagues remembered and respected her precision, her remarkable safety record, and her devotion to her patients. She was one of the first delegates of western visitors to mainland China in the mid-1970s where she traveled with her sister, Virginia, to learn about Chinese acupuncture and its use in pain reduction. She was a Fellow of the American College of Anesthesiology and a member of various professional organizations, including the American Board of Anesthesiology, American Medical Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, New England Society of Anesthesiologists, Rhode Island Anesthesia Society, Rhode Island Medical Society, and the Newport County Medical Society.After retiring from medicine in the 1980s, Dr. Torres pursued her love of travel and gardening and was often found reading a good mystery novel. With her family she travelled across North America and Europe, but always spoke of Newports natural beauty and unique history with special fondness.Doctor Torres` paternal grandparents, Isabella Anette Waugh McNichol and Ezequiel Miguel Torres and his family were a driving force in establishing the first Presbyterian churches in Cuba. Others of her family were part of the founding and running of La Progresiva Presbyterian School, the earliest protestant private school in Cuba. Being Presbyterian was part of her family legacy, and hence her identity, which she fiercely loved and in which she took great pride.Dr. Torres was predeceased by her siblings, Roberto, Raul and Virginia Torres, as well as a sister-in-law, Emma Perez de Alejo de Torres. She leaves behind a sister-in-law, Dra. Susana Menendez de Torres, Maria Teresa Torres, and a former nephew-in-law, Patrick T. McMorrow.Private funeral services will be held with the Rev. William Maxwell, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, conducting the service. Burial will be in the Island Cemetery Annex, Newport. Donations in Dr. Torres name can be made to Odyssey Hospice Foundation, 2374 Post Rd., Suite 206, Warwick, RI 02886