Revered N.J. public defender dies at 48
By elaine van develde
Staff Writer
A long battle with pancreatic cancer claimed the life of 48-year-old New Jersey Public Defender Ivelisse "Ivy" Torres, who died at her Shrewsbury home on Sunday. She is remembered for her generous spirit, sense of fairness and staunch will.
As the state’s public defender for the past 31/2 years, Torres was touted as the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in New Jersey government. After serving in various legal capacities throughout the state for more than 20 years, Gov. Christie Whitman appointed her to serve as public defender in 1997. "I am honored to have worked with her [Torres]," said Whitman in a released statement. "New Jersey is a better place because of her."
As state public defender, Torres oversaw the operation of public defenders’ offices across New Jersey. During her time in office, she supervised the Guardian Unit’s expansion. The unit provides legal representation for children involved in neglect and abuse cases. She also oversaw the initiation and development of a unit to provide legal assistance to parents charged in such cases — the Parental Representation Unit.
Torres also was a staunch advocate of providing more social work services to juvenile defendants. To encourage the effort, special units in Monmouth and Camden counties were opened.
"Ivy Torres knew firsthand the importance of fighting on behalf of every individual who is a part of the many faces of our one family in New Jersey," the Whitman statement read. "She provided hope and help for every resident who turned to her office for assistance."
Said Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye of Torres: "I didn’t see an awful lot of her, since her job encompassed such vast territory, but what I did see, I liked an awful lot. Ivy Torres was a very good person who worked extremely hard and had an indisputable sense of fairness. She was never partisan about any decision she had to make or deed she undertook. Her heart was always in the right place. It’s very easy to get involved in the political bent of this work and she never did."
Kaye continued, saying that he heard of Torres’ cancer through the grapevine. He said he heard that she knew she had it about a year and a half ago. Kaye added that despite the fact that he knew of her cancer, she never mentioned it and always forged ahead with work in a manner that made people around her forget she even had the disease.
Recently diagnosed with prostate cancer himself, Kaye commented on how sneaky a disease this is. "There’s a much more encouraging cure rate with the cancer I have," Kaye said. "I’m lucky in a sense. From what I understand, pancreatic cancer is not only sneaky and difficult to detect early, it’s excruciatingly painful to endure and almost always a death sentence."
Kaye reiterated Torres’ keen sense of balance and fairness, as he mentioned how difficult it is to manage the office of the public defender with its "historical budget problem."
Prior to her stint as state public defender, Torres served as counsel in the public defenders’ offices of several counties throughout New Jersey. Most recently, immediately before being appointed to the state public defender position, Torres served in Ocean County where she was first assistant deputy public defender and then deputy public defender for five years. Before that, Torres was a defender in Union County for more than three years.
When she started her career, in the late 1970s, Torres worked as a law guardian and senior trial attorney in the regional office of Camden County.
Torres’ civic involvement encompassed serving in an array of organizations statewide for diverse causes. She provided legal assistance to the Puerto Rican Legal Committee Inc. in Newark. She was trustee of the New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association. She served as co-chair to the Ocean County Minority Concerns Committee and was also a member of the Youth Services Commission in that county.
Torres served as a mentor in many juvenile and community programs on a voluntary basis. Professionally, she was a member of the New Jersey, Monmouth and Ocean counties’ bar associations.
Of the awards she received throughout her career, standouts were the 1998 Professional Lawyer of the Year award given by the New Jersey Bar Association and the Rutgers Law School Fannie Besser Award, which she received in 1997.
Just in October, Torres was honored by the Latino American Committee of Monmouth County for her exemplary work and fine example she set in the community.
Torres completed her undergraduate studies at Hunter College and the City University of New York, N.Y. Her juris doctor degree comes from Rutgers School of Law, Newark. She also had a master’s degree in labor studies from Long Island University.
A native of Queens, Torres moved to Shrewsbury nine years ago. She leaves behind a husband, David P. Corrigan, and a daughter, Caitlin, of Shrewsbury. Also surviving are: Torres’ parents, Estanislao "Tato"and Carmen Torres, West Long Branch; a brother and sister-in-law, doctors Abel and Vilma Torres of Brookline, Mass.; a father- and mother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. John J. Corrigan, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Funeral services were held yesterday at the Church of the Nativity, Fair Haven. Donations can be made in Torres’ memory to American Cancer Society, Attn: Pancreatic Cancer Research, 801 Broad St., Shrewsbury 07702.
"Ivy Torres was an extraordinary public servant and a very special human being," concluded Whitman.