Obituary of Laura Margaret Teresi

LAURA MARGARET TERESI Loudonville-Laura Margaret Teresi 97, passed away on Tuesday October 20, 2020 at the Loudonville Assisted Living Residence. Born at home in the Hamilton Hill Section of Schenectady in 1923, she was the daughter of George and Mildred Calhoun. While young, her family moved to her Grandparents' (Norman and Laura [Nanny] Birge) large farmhouse in Chatham, N.Y. She grew up on a working farm, where she ate fresh, grown fruits and vegetables, home baked bread, home canned produce, homemade jams, fresh (unpasteurized) milk, home churned butter from the family cows and eggs from the farm's chickens. She attended grade school in the one room (grades 1-8) schoolhouse which was heated by a pot belly wood stove, where her mother was the teacher. After graduating from Chatham High School, she enrolled in St. Peter's Hospital School of Nursing (class of 1944) and proudly recalled that training as one of the best experiences of her life. While a surgical nurse at St. Peters Hospital, she met a young intern, Nick Teresi of Batavia, N.Y. and they married on November 25, 1944. While Dad developed and cultivated his family medical practice, mom was the glue that held the family of five children together. She was the chief cook, shopper, laundress, chauffeur, fashion mentor, head of discipline, tutor, motivator, life coach, and critic when needed. Mom was strong willed, independent and determined. The accomplishments of her children are due primarily to her efforts, perseverance and encouragement. She is survived by her five children: Jean M. Scribner, Hon. Joseph C. Teresi (Jerry), Nicholas P. Teresi Jr, Pamela A. Gandhi (Dilip), and Mark A. Teresi (Jeanne); her nephew Van Calhoun (Sue), fourteen grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Nicholas; her brother William Calhoun, his wife Betty, and her nephew Birge Calhoun. After her children were on their own, mom embarked on a variety of activities over the years. She trained nurses at St. Peter's Hospital, obtained her Paralegal Certificate from Russell Sage College, worked (for a very short time) as a bank teller, was a hospice volunteer, volunteered as a medical records clerk at the Little Sisters of the Poor Our Lady of Hope Residence in Latham, and at soup kitchens on Thanksgiving and was a Eucharistic Minister at Memorial Hospital. She was old school and believed that a thank you, sympathy and congratulation notes should be hand written and not purchased at the local drug store. She was a devotee of the opera (in the spirit of RBG, although they never met) attending many performances in New York City at the Met, in Cooperstown at the Glimmerglass and the ballet at SPAC. She looked forward to those many bus trips led by Peter Haley. The family would like to thank Linda Femia-Rahm and Anna Connor for the wonderful care given to mom while she was at home and to the staff at the Loudonville Assisted Living Residence for the sensitive and excellent care provided to mom during her stay there. A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday October 24, 2020 at 10:00 am in St. Pius X Church, 23 Crumite Road, Loudonville with Rev. James Walsh, pastor officiating. Masks will be required and social distancing observed inside and outside the Church. Please enter the church by the front center door. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to St. Pius X School, 75 Upper Loudon Road, Loudonville N.Y. 12211; or St. Peters Hospital Foundation, 310 S. Manning Blvd. Albany, N.Y. 12208 or a charity of your choice. For directions, information, or to light a memory candle for the family please visit www.dufresneandcavanaugh.com.