Theresa Ann Cholewiak McCloskey

Sierra Madre, CA (September 22, 1953 – October 24, 2022)

Known affectionately throughout her life as Theresa, Theresa-Ann, T, Sweet-T, Tessa, Tress, TC, her favorite title was the work of her passion: that of “Wife/Honey” to Dave, “Mommy” to Frances, and “Granny” to her grandchildren.

She took her last breath while her daughter read to her the final page of “Borrowed Angel” by Marguerite Hamilton. Theresa always insisted on finishing a book. Indeed, books defined Theresa’s life as her own shelves became libraries to her friends and family, and a legacy to her grandchildren: many adorned with her own childhood scrawls, and eventually with bookplates of turtles and trees.

Theresa was a little girl who picked worms up off sidewalks and out of harm's way on the way to school and was scolded for giggling with her brothers in Mass by Father O’Malley at St. Rita’s Catholic Church. Her first pet was a box turtle named Fred, Susie was one of her first best friends, and a boy named Leo walked her home every day in 5th Grade. She admired Helen Keller and Jesus Christ and discovered the Old Hollywood stars and their films on the small screen of late-night TV nostalgia. She thought that “being contented was a skill” and her favorite book was “The Contented Little Pussy Cat” by Frances Ruth Keller. As a young woman, she considered a weekly hike to “First Water” up Mount Wilson Trail near ritual. There was no such thing as a quick chat with Theresa. Discussions of ideas, philosophy, politics, and opinions stretched often into the early hours of the morning.

But she would say her life began when she picked her own bouquet of wildflowers and eloped to the mountains of Big Bear. “I won David McCloskey’s heart and that has been the biggest win of all. It changed my life for the better and my loving him back is the best thing I ever did.” A “life-long learner” and “professional student” she never failed to instill a sense of wonder as a teacher and mother to her only child, and daughter, Frances. She ultimately raised her own best friend, and they both had the gift of knowing it.

Theresa lived for her grandchildren. She spent the final seven years of her life seeking treatment for her breast cancer in order to spend time with them. She firmly believed that all life’s experiences lend us lessons, and, like Viktor Frankl, that our sufferings serve a purpose.

She is preceded in death by her “first hero”, her dad, Alex Cholewiak, and survived by her great loves: her husband Dave McCloskey, daughter Frances, son-in-law Dan Klimas, and her six grandchildren: Wally, Franky, Teddy, Lottie Theresa, Arthur, and George. She is also survived by her brothers Chris and Mike.

Theresa moved to her other love, Sierra Madre, in the late 1950’s with her family. Though there would be many houses in many places she would come to know, there was only one place where the wistaria meets the mountains that felt like home.

In lieu of flowers, please support a local Sierra Madre business, coffee shop, or restaurant, or consider a donation in her honor to the Sierra Madre Volunteer Search and Rescue Team https://smsr.org/. Theresa loved coffee, and she said she “felt sorry for people who didn’t like it…like Dave...but, oh, well, nobody’s perfect.”

An open house wake will be held in the coming weeks at the Klimas Family home and interment plans are being made at Pioneer Cemetery in Sierra Madre, CA.

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/theresa-mccloskey/obituary/

Copy