Therese Arlene Duffin

Terri was born tenth out of fourteen children to Julius Rosauer and Susan Glazer in New Hampton, Iowa and spent her early years living on a farm in Ionia, Iowa.  The family moved to New Hampton, and she graduated from New Hampton High School.  While she was in high school, she was recruited by the FBI to be a secretary in Washington D.C. where she met two of her best and lifelong friends Joan and Abby.  After two years with the FBI, Terri and Joan boarded a cross country train to Los Angeles.

She met her future husband, Jack Duffin, in the apartment complex she and Joan lived in, which was in Westchester.  Terri and the “proverbial boy next door” socialized with friends in the Amecian Club. They got married on September 27, 1958.  The couple moved to Fullerton, California where Terri lived for the rest of her life.

As a member of St. Juliana Falconieri parish, Terri devoted her time to the school as an assistant secretary and lunch lady and raising her five children.  As a volunteer, she would visit the sick and elderly, along with helping refugees from foreign lands including distributing food to the poor.

She was a soccer, football, and baseball mom, taking her kids to the numerous practices and games every week.  She was a popular mom among her children’s friends.  She made herself available to counsel them when they needed.

 As her children got older, she participated in altar care, the bereavement society, the Italian Catholic Federation, the vocations committee and was a member of a small Christian community group.  Terri was a devoted Catholic her entire life and had participated in these activities until she was no longer able to do so.  Even then, she showed up in her wheelchair to share her love and friendship with her friends.

Over and above her volunteer and church related programs she had an interest in a large number of leisure activities.  Her first passion was gardening.  Her favorite flowers were the calla lily, roses, and amaryllis.  It was normal to see her on her “Lawn Buddy” cart taking care of her plants.  She was happy to give the flowers to friends as well as keeping some for inside the house.  She was an avid reader of both books and newspapers, cross word puzzle enthusiast, and a catalogue peruser to identify items to buy for her family members.  She also enjoyed games with the card game 500 near the top of the list, and always played when the relatives congregated.  Poker was also popular and very often was the ending game at family and holiday dinners, but one game that was played at any time was Mexican Trains, the motor homer favorite.

She was a great traveler enjoying cruises, flying and auto trips.  The auto trips in many cases were to visit wineries in California, Oregon and Washington or visit friends or relatives in other states.  She especially enjoyed air travel to Europe and to the UAE to visit her youngest daughter, Sheri, and her family.  She enjoyed cruises because as she said, “A woman doesn’t have to do a thing, no cooking, no dishes, no laundry, just have fun.”

A family trip to the High Sierras in 1967 led to 47 years of family summer vacations at our beloved Minaret Falls campground.  The campground was a place of entertainment and rest with beautiful starry nights, a sparkling river, tall pines, serene sunsets, and fresh trout on the grill.  And a fun part for the whole family was the evening campfire where Terri’s son, Steve, would entertain everyone with stories of our close encounter with bears even though many had been heard before.

After Jack’s retirement, they purchased a motor home and for the next 25 years drove all over the country and part of Canada to see family and friends and visit National Parks and National Battlefields.  These were wonderful times for Terri and Jack and motor homing was a major part of their lives for years.

Terri was a warm, generous person with an outgoing personality, delightful sense of humor and an engaging smile.  She made friends easily and was the quintessential person who could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with being everybody’s friend.  She was compassionate, loving, and upbeat and that made it easy to love her.

The last few years have been difficult for Terri, and she had met the challenges with courage, grace, and faith awaiting the Lord’s invitation to join him in comfort and peace.

Hon, Mom, Grammy, Great – Grammy, your love has been a wonderful presence in our lives, and we will always remember you in our hearts, minds and prayers until we all are reunited in joy in the everlasting glory of Heaven.

Terri is survived by her husband Jack and four daughters, Susie (Greg), Shelly (Rob), Stacey, and Sheri (Tareq), ten grandsons, three granddaughters, one great grandson, and one great granddaughter.  She was predeceased by her parents, eleven of her siblings and her son, Steve.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Food for the Poor, Inc. (foodforthepoor.org), Terri’s favorite charity, or your own favorite charity.

The funeral will be held at St. Juliana Falconieri Church, 1316 N. Acacia Ave., Fullerton, CA 92831 on Friday, September 16th, at 10:00 A. M.