Teresa M. “Terry” Roberts
April 12, 1933 ~ April 4, 2023
Teresa M. “Terry” Roberts started her next adventure just before sunrise on April 4, 2023, when the dawn chorus was waking up the nearby woods.
Teresa was born April 12, 1933 in Bayshore, New York to Mary (Hagerty) Murphy and Thomas Bertrand Murphy. After spending her earliest years on Long Island, she grew up in Cortland, New York, attending SUNY Cortland and SUNY Albany. Her marriage to the late Harry Roberts ended in divorce, but left her with many great stories and her beloved daughter, also named Teresa
She returned to Cortland after her divorce and taught English at Cortland High School for 26 years, retiring in 1990. After her retirement, she worked with the 1890 House Museum and was involved in Cortland’s Fortnightly Club.
In 2018, Teresa moved to Mansfield, MA to live with her daughter and son-in-law. She provided love, garden advice, and a warm lap for her “grand-cats” until declining health led her to Life Care of Attleboro (MA), where she passed away. Her family thanks the staff there and Hope Health Hospice for their care and kindness.
She was funny, and fierce, and intelligent, and both sardonic and sweet. She loved books and cats, opera and race cars, British historical drama and animation. She gardened until she couldn’t anymore, then she became a plant enabler for her daughter. She lived most of her life with severe asthma and for the last decades with arthritis that limited her mobility. Yet she lived a big, full, vibrant life.
She is survived by her daughter Teresa Noelle Roberts, and her son-in-law Jeff Collins, and by several “distant” relatives who were close in the heart: Laurie Renart and Lise Boyd Weinert, both of Wilmington, NC, and Frances Anderson of Menifee, CA.
Arrangements will be handled by Boston Cremation of Mansfield, MA. At her request, there will be no formal funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Cortland County SPCA (https://cortlandspca.org). Then buy a bouquet for someone you love and enjoy this spring’s blooms a little more in her memory
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This is a beautiful celebration tribute to your dear Mom, Teresa. She was a lovely lady, and a great teacher. I did not have her in class, but knew her more ad your mom. She always warmly welcomed me into your home. My dearest sympathies to you and your family.
Teresa so very sorry to see this about your mom she was a lovely lady and a wonderful neighbor to my family. Prayers for you in the days to come. Maureen, Michael and Kelly Stack
Teresa was my high school English teacher, my Quiz Bowl coach, and someone who helped me immeasurably through the turbulence of adolescence…and after. I have such fond memories of her, and I will dearly miss her. You are in my thoughts.
I will always be grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know “Mom”. Her stories and humor were a delight and I only wish I’d had the opportunity to have met her sooner. She will be missed and we will raise many a glass in her name.