Teresa De Jesús Cordero

Teresa De Jesús Cordero (age 83) passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 7, 2025 at 11:45 p.m. at The Gables Assisted Living and Memory Care of North Logan, Utah where she had been receiving hospice care due to congestive heart failure. Her daughter, María De Jesús Cordero, was with her when she took her last breath, and many friends had come throughout the day to pay their respects and say goodbye. Her passage into heaven was greatly eased by the ethereal singing of the Threshold Choir directed by Leslie Black, the charismatic petitions and music of the Spanish- language Vino Nuevo Prayer Group of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, the prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet led by friend and St. Thomas parishioner Christina Ledesma, and last rites administered that evening by Fr. Robin Cruz and previously by Fr. Rogelio Félix-Rosas.

Teresa was born in her family home in Matanzas, Cuba on November 13, 1941, the sixth and youngest child of Ricardo Casanovas and América Haded, themselves the Cuban-born children of immigrant parents from Spain and the Middle East respectively. Teresa's maternal grandparents, Federico Haded and Jasmin Sesin, were Christians who fled the Syria/Lebanon area during the time of the Ottoman Empire because of religious persecution. When she was born, the midwife referred to Teresa as Snow White because of her dark hair and fair skin. At the time of her birth, her Middle Eastern grandmother, Jasmin Sesin, was still living, and Arabic was still spoken in the home which was filled with the aromas of her Middle Eastern cooking and the albahaca (basil) plants from her yard. Teresa had an idyllic childhood throughout which she was so spoiled by her parents and her five older siblings (Digna, Ricardo Jr., Dolores, Francisco, and Margarita) who adored her. As a child, she loved going with her family to nearby Varadero Beach where she played in white sands and swam in sun-kissed, turquoise waters. She delighted in the first television which her technologically gifted father brought into the house. Prior to that, she had looked inside the large family radio in an attempt to see the people whom she imagined emitted the sounds. Her brother Ricardo Jr. had promised that one day she would be able to see as well as hear them. She and her sister Margarita often walked to the nearby Catholic church together, shaking the insects out of their veils as they emerged from under the trees. They suffered the humiliation of having the rectory door closed in their faces because, back then, priests could not speak to young girls, even when they were only coming around to request that a special Mass be offered for someone in need, something which Margarita found so difficult to understand. As the youngest, Teresa was the chaperone that her older siblings would bribe with candy so that she would leave them alone with their fiancés. When she was 17 years old, however, Teresa's fairytale childhood was blown apart by the violence of the Cuban Revolution which triumphed on January 1, 1959. Teresa, who had become a kindergarten teacher, was forced to participate in the regime's literacy campaigns in the countryside, far away from her beloved family.

In late November 1969, at age 28, Teresa left her homeland via The Freedom Flights out of Varadero with her husband, Ángel María Cordero, her daughters María De Jesús (age 2), María Teresa (9 months) and her son Angel still in the womb. The couple had made the difficult decision to leave Cuba because of a severe food shortage that was endangering the health of their very young children and because Teresa's husband, Angel, could not adapt to life under yet

another dictatorship. At that time, the United States welcomed refugees, especially those from Cuba, who sought freedom and an opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their children. Teresa never saw her parents, many of her siblings, her nephews and nieces, or her homeland ever again, except in the frequent, beautiful, and always comforting dreams in which they would appear throughout her life. She loved to relate how, the night before she learned of her own mother's passage into heaven, she dreamed that her spirit had come to hug her goodbye. In the United States (Chicago and later Miami), Teresa was a homemaker and a loving mother to her three children. She was especially devoted, until the end, to her special-needs child, María Teresa, who passed away suddenly in 2015, at the age of 46. She took the loss of María Teresa very hard. After that, Teresa took care of Angel, the father of her children, until his death from Alzheimer's and stroke in 2018.

Almost two months after Angel's death, Teresa suffered a small stroke, and her daughter Maria De Jesús brought her to live with her in Logan, Utah. María De Jesús cared for her at home for six years. Teresa, who had herself been a caregiver for most of her adult life, was finally able to have some fun. She went for brunch at Crumb Brothers almost every Saturday with María De Jesús, enjoyed cortados and pastries at the Caffé Ibis which she loved for its "bohemian" ambiance, ate Aggie Ice Cream regularly (her favorite flavors were vanilla, lemon custard, and huckleberry), ordered Hawaiian pizzas and chicken tenders from Marco's Pizza, celebrated elaborate birthday parties at home with friends, saw the Nutcracker almost every year at the Ellen Eccles, listened to Christmas carols unceasingly on the radio from November to January, decorated her beloved white Christmas tree with gingerbread ornaments, and delighted in the performances of the Alumni Band directed by Nick Morrison and in the Fourth of July fireworks in Lewiston. She was herself a little firecracker at times, but she was also very sweet, always holding out her hand for friends, caregivers, and nurses to hold and blowing them kisses. She had learned with Jamie Morley whom she referred to as la señora bonita (the pretty lady) and whom she cherished as a friend and as the Senior Ministry Director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, that it is possible to get past the language barrier by way of a big smile and a gentle touch. She had a great many stuffed animals, thanks to Maria De Jesús and dear friend Linda Bradak who brought her a new one every time she came to visit. She took comfort in them all as her health declined, but her favorite was a small dragon named Blue who was with her for every procedure and hospitalization, and who was also there with her at the end. She loved waking up in the morning to the chirping of birds, and her favorite flowers were white roses, which she specifically asked for this last Mother's Day, and the white plumeria (velo de novia) that grew near her home in Miami.

She is survived by her daughter Maria De Jesús Cordero, her son Ángel Cordero, her daughter-in- law Mayda Cordero, her three smart, athletic, and creative grandchildren, Jordan, Jaden, and Brooke Cordero, her nieces Mireya Casanovas and Natasha Casanovas, her nephew Rafael Acosta, and a great many friends whom she loved. She was preceded in death by her daughter María Teresa Cordero, her son José Ángel Cordero whom she lost before birth through miscarriage, her husband Angel María Cordero, her siblings Digna, Ricardo Jr., Dolores, Francisco, and Margarita Casanovas (and many, if not all of their spouses), her niece Caridad Acosta, and her beloved parents Ricardo Casanovas and América Haded.

The family would like to thank The Gables Assisted Living and Memory Care of North Logan, IHC Home Health and Hospice, IHC Internal Medicine, especially Dr. Robert Nash and Dr. Nolan Derr, IHC Wound Care, Bear River Area Agency on Aging, Caregivers Abril Rangel and Wendy Cáceres, The Senior Center, Amy Johnson of Utah Case Management, The Threshold Choir, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, especially Fr. Rogelio Félix-Rosas, Fr. Robin Cruz, Senior Ministry Director Jamie Morley, Eucharistic Ministers for the Homebound Linda Kessler and Diane Van Schaick, and the Vino Nuevo Prayer Group, as well as Joel at the Cache Valley Mortuary.

Teresa's Funeral Mass will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Hyde Park, Utah on July 7, 2025 at 10 am. The funeral Mass will be preceded by a rosary and followed by a luncheon in the church social hall. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Teresa's favorite charity, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which she herself contributed to in life.