Teresa Anne Effing crossed over on Sunday, August 4th at St. Patricks Hospital in Missoula. She was born on April 23, 1958 in that same hospital.
Teresa was preceded in death by her parents, Gerald and Eileen Effing and her brother John. She left behind three sons, Jean, Tim and Dylan, whom she loved very much indeed – along with a host of family and friends; her sister and brother-in-law, Kathy and Bruce with three sons, Ryan, Tyler and Jeremy; her sister Barb with her son Scott; and Stan, her husband and longtime friend and his family. She is also survived by her son Jean’s father Rick, old friends Stafford, Norm, the Wickes, her Bitterroot people and many more.
Teresa had a beautiful voice and many stories to tell. She was a camp cook for Jack Davis in the Bob Marshall, left to defend the camp with an 8-foot bear pole and Puff the black cat. She was proud of the fact that she had ridden her bicycle from Williston, ND to Helena, Helena to Big Arm to work in the cherries, many trips from Big Arm to Polson and back (up and down Sunny Slope hill) and up the Seeley-Swan highway. She took Jean to see John Prine at the Top Hat when he was a wee child. She took her kids fishing and could split wood with the best of ‘em and she could handle her end of a two-man crosscut saw. She loved critters – all of ‘em – and would invite ‘em on in. She once could play Suite Judy Blue Eyes on the guitar and knew the words to all the old songs. She worked with the developmentally disabled at Boulder, MT where she befriended Jimmy McB who had lost the use of one arm as a kid in a wringer washer way back in the 50s. She was good friends with old Gus Beaver who taught her kids to cuss.
Well… we all loved her voice, her laugh and her big bleeding heart. In the end, she brought family and friends closer together.
Thanks, Teresa, for being in our lives. We’ll miss you so much.
There will be a celebration of Teresa’s life on Saturday, October 5th at 1 p.m. at the River Street Dance Studio, 421 N. 2nd Street (corner of 2nd and River) in Hamilton.