Sea Hawks lose a legend
Florencio "Socko" Torres was considered one of the greatest athletes to come out of Redondo Union High School. Photo by Gentil Smith
Memorial services were held Tuesday for Florencio Vincente “Socko” Torres who died at his San Pedro home on Tuesday, March 30. Torres, 80, was one of the greatest athletes to attend Redondo Union High School and was an avid supporter of the school’s athletic program until the time of his death.
Torres was born in Lompoc on October 26, 1929 and his family moved to Redondo Beach the following year where he attended local schools before earning 15 athletic letters in football, basketball, baseball and track at Redondo Union High School.
According to long-time friend Henry Burke, when Torres was a baby one of his uncles referred to him as “Pan Seco,” which stood for dry bread and he being so skinny. “Seco” became his name, but other kids in the neighborhood did not pronounce it very well, and out of the blue, his nickname became “Socko.”
“As a sophomore, instead of playing B-football as I had expected him to do, as I was the varsity team manager and both of us weighing only 120 pounds, it never entered my mind that Socko would be brought up to the varsity for his first tackle football endeavor,” Burke related. Torres eventually earned the starting quarterback position.
Torres is one of very few athletes who made the starting lineup every game of his four-year high school varsity baseball career. Simultaneously, he earned four letters in track and field during the spring sports season.
Torres continued his football career at El Camino College in 1948-49, where he played in the backfield with future USC All-American Jim Sears. Both were inducted into the El Camino Hall of Fame in 1989 for football, although Torres also played baseball and basketball for the Warriors.
Torres lived in Manhattan Beach from 1953 to 1989 before moving to San Pedro. He is survived by his sister, Jenny Torres; brother, Joe Torres of Redondo Beach; his five children, Dorian (Mickey) Harris of Redondo Beach, Vincent (Betty) Torres of Hillsbough, OR, Monica (Tim) Schmidt of San Pedro, Paul Torres of Baltimore, MD, Rita (Mark) Figueroa of San Pedro and their mother, Eleanor Brice Torres of San Pedro; 10 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren. ER