Teresa Marie Zermeno

Teresa Zermeno, known as "Terry" to her friends and loved ones, was born on Oct. 13, 1932 in Azusa, Calif. to Macedonio and Efigenia Zermeno. She was a woman of simple tastes, who loved ice cream and her family. In many ways, she was a strong independent woman ahead of her time, noting that she never needed a husband. Noted for her bravery, she was renowned for her frugal ways, respected for her shrewd business sense but most of all, loved for her sense of service to others. She firmly believed in a woman’s right to work outside the home and support herself and learned how to care for her car and make simple home repairs herself. Ever self-disciplined and ever the hard worker, Terry would spend hours making sure her finances were always in line and was known for her strict attention to detail, both in her work and in caring for her mind and health. In her opinion, anything worth doing was worth doing right – or not at all.

Following her high school graduation in 1951, Terry took a job at Sears Department Store where she worked as an executive secretary for several years. After she retired from Sears, she took a job working for her sister and brother-in-law George and Margaret Gastel at their family business, Arrowhead Mechanical in San Bernardino. She worked there for several years as the office manager, taking care of various office duties and payroll with the strict attention to detail she was well-known for.

She loved taking care of her family, and cared for her elderly Aunt Louisa until her death. Terry then moved from Azusa to settle in Rialto to care for her aging mother until she passed away in 1986. Following her mother’s death in 1985, Terry moved to in a small neighborhood in North San Bernardino, where she could be close to her sister Connie and her family. When Connie fell ill from renal failure, Terry helped to care for her until her death in 2015.

Always known for her kindness to all of her nieces and nephews, she had a special bond with her grandneice and goddaughter, Briana Ross, whom she helped raise. She was heavily involved in Briana’s school, Our Lady of Assumption School, attending all of Bree’s activities and sometimes chaperoning school outings. She was known to all of Briana’s friends and the school community as “Nina Terry.”

Terry had a passion for travel and longed for adventure. She wanted to see the world and went on three separate trips to Europe in younger days and bringing back gifts for everyone.

Terry overcame many challenges and endured several health problems for most of her life, developing diabetes later in life. She reversed her diabetes through a strict regimen of nutrition. She also beat cancer more than once, battling breast cancer and beating a brain tumor, becoming a survivor. Despite these challenges, her faith in God remained steadfast. She attended church regularly, until her health would no longer allow it.

Eventually, the cancer would return. She was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in 2017. She entered hospice care in the summer of 2017, when it became apparent that she was declining in health, her only wish to die in her beloved home with dignity. She passed away in at home on Sept. 14, 2017, only one day after the 30-year anniversary of her beloved mother’s death.

Services with a rosary and visitation will be held between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Sept. 28, A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2017 at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church at 6885 Del Rosa Ave, San Bernardino, CA. Burial services will follow at Mt. View Memorial Cemetery, 570 E. Highland Avenue, San Bernardino, CA. Per the deceased’s request, there will be no reception.

She is survived by her sisters Josephine Zermeno, Socorro Feld and Margaret Gastel, and by her brothers Sylvestre Zermeno and Sabino Zermeno. She is also survived by her brother-in-law Michael Kennedy, brother-in-law Donald Feld and sister-in-law Christine Zermeno as well as several nieces and nephews.