Gisela (Torres) Soto passed away on August 27, 2024, at the age of 79. She was born in Lawton, Havana, Cuba on July 5, 1945, to Vicente and Margarita Torres. As a teenager she and her family moved from Cuba to New York where she met the love of her life, Oswaldo Soto. She and Oswaldo married on November 26, 1960, and remained married for nearly 50 years. They lived in New York for the majority of their marriage and moved to Lake Placid, Florida in 1997. Throughout her life Gisela declared the name and life of Jesus Christ wherever she went.
Those left to cherish the memory of Gisela are her adoring children, Oswaldo (Angela) Soto Jr. of Houston, Texas, and Gisela (Ron) Woods of Lake Placid, Florida. Gisela is also cherished by 2 sisters, Cecilia (Eddie) Salgado and Teresa Torres, and 1 brother, Lorenzo Torres, and many nieces and nephews. Gisela was the doting grandmother to 4 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, 4 siblings, Nina, Iris, Jesus, and Lazaro, and precious nephew, Vicente Torres.
Gisela was a woman of many passions and talents, and she will be remembered by all who knew her as a consummate teacher who touched the lives of many. She was a hairstylist and cosmetology teacher, a piano teacher, a guitar teacher, a sign language teacher, and a teacher of the Bible, which was her greatest passion of all. Having been a prominent teacher to so many people within her New York and Lake Placid communities, Gisela was well known and deeply loved by everyone who called her a "friend".