Teresa "Jackie" Boyle

She was the daughter of the late John J. and Alice L. (Nestor) Boyle.

She is survived by relatives Gary Munroe Sr., William Munroe, and Maryann Hottenstein and her husband Tom, and by friends and caring neighbors.

Jackie was an elementary school teacher for the City of Warwick for many years before her retirement. She was loving, independent, and a good friend to those she knew, with a full and wonderful laugh and great sense of humor. Jackie treated others kindly, lived life with dignity, and was rooted in her faith. In her younger days, she enjoyed travelling with her close friends, including to Europe, and the joy of many summers at her Bonnet Shores cabana. Jackie looked forward to her card games, dinners, and other gatherings with her girlfriends.

In the early 1960’s, Jackie and her parents moved to Warwick and became cul de sac neighbors of the McGowans and their seven children, including their youngest daughter Nancy, who had Down Syndrome. Soon thereafter, six-year-old Nancy found herself roaming over to the Boyles and made instant friends with Jackie and her father, Jack Boyle (who had worked for the Outlet Company and Channel 10 for many years), and mother, Lillian. They welcomed, embraced, and loved Nancy like a daughter, with—at their behest—Nancy referring to Mr. Boyle as “Jack” and Mrs. Boyle as simply “Boyle.” Thus began what became close to a 50-year friendship between Nancy and her special and best companion, Jackie. Jackie, in her good-natured affection, reveled in and occasionally feigned outrage in Nancy being the occasional impish prankster and in her assortment of one-liners, often taken from her favorite television shows, and array of hand-buzzers, squirt guns and other paraphernalia, which were always at the ready. Jackie talked about Nancy with fondness and how she missed her terribly when Nancy passed away several years ago, but she remained close to the other McGowans throughout her life.

Jackie will be greatly missed by all.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in St. Gregory the Great Church, 360 Cowesett Rd, Warwick. Burial will follow in St. Ann Cemetery, Cranston. Visiting hours are respectfully omitted.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org