Teresa “Terry” M. DiBenedetto of Hartford joined the deceased members of her loving family on February 17, 2019. She was the daughter of the late Pasquale and Lucia (Castagno) DiBenedetto, and she was predeceased by her brothers, Gennaro, Vincent and his wife Jennie, and Romeo and his wife Olga, as well as her sisters, Beatrice and Sara. She was a communicant of St. Augustine Church, where she enjoyed singing the hymns, many of which she memorized. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education at Teachers College of Connecticut (presently CCSU) and her Masters degree as well as her sixth year at the University of Hartford. She was a member of the former Italian Teachers Club, the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut, the Hartford County Teachers Association, and the NRTA division of the AARP. Terry taught fifth grade at the Dr. James H. Naylor School in Hartford for many years. She was proud of all her fifth grade classes because they were well-behaved, progressed academically, and excelled in reading music and singing songs, always with both soprano and alto parts. She enjoyed giving both reading and music demonstrations with the children. During the summer vacations, she composed several educational “musicals”, and her fire-prevention program, “The Reformation of King Carelessini”, was selected by the superintendent of schools to be performed on the stage of the Aetna auditorium for the New England and eastern New York Fire Chiefs Convention. Terry was selected for the teacher segment of “Profile of an American” which Voice of America broadcast from Washington D.C. throughout several countries. Her latter years were spent in the second grade where, in accordance with the one-on-one Follow-Through program, she created many teaching aids to enable the children to learn. Terry was employed for several summers by the Hartford Recreation Department and worked at Pope Park. She was interested in sports, both as a participant and as a spectator. In regard to the latter, her favorite teams were the Celtics, the former Whalers, the Yankees, and the men and women Huskies. She traveled not only in the United States, but also made several trips to Canada, and spent two ten-week periods in Europe where, because of her deep appreciation of art, she had the invaluable experience and thrill of viewing numerous masterpieces in the museums and churches of several countries. She was an avid theatergoer and saw many plays on Broadway, at the Goodspeed Opera House, and at the Oakdale, Storrowton, and Coachlight Theaters. Terry is survived by a nephew, Jon DiBenedetto; two nieces, Teresa Simpson and her husband Stephen and Debi Geffert as well as several cousins.
A Funeral Service will be held at 11am on Friday (February 22nd) at the D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield. The family will receive relatives and friends on Friday morning from 10am until the time of the service. Interment will be held privately at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield.
To leave a message for the family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com
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