Theresa "Tess" Saunders, formerly of Trenatuber, County Donegal Ireland, and Dorchester, Massachusetts passed away peacefully on March 8, 2022 comforted by her family. She was 75 years old.
Tess was the beloved mother of Brian and his wife Sharon of Raleigh, NC, Ashlee Saunders-Tint and her husband Aung, and Amanda Saunders and her companion Willito. She was the beloved and proud "Ma" to her favorite (and only) granddaughter Mariah and her four grandsons Elijah, Adam, Alexander and Julian. She was a fantastic mother and an even better grandmother who passed on her toughness, complete honesty (brutal as it may sometimes have been), work ethic and sincerity on to her children and grandchildren. She would be proud of the impact she had and will continue to have on them.
In many ways her life story is an American immigrant's success story. After being born on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, she moved to the United States in the 1960's. When she first moved to Boston, she relied on her family and lived in several neighborhoods. She graduated from South Boston High School and eventually settled in Dorchester for the bulk of the rest of her life. (There was a brief sojourn to Quincy, but we don't really talk about that.)
She gave birth to her son in 1970, and her two daughters in the early 80's. Being an immigrant, she wanted her kids to have a better life than she did. Wow, did she do a fantastic job at that. She always stressed the importance of education and hard work. Given that she was an immigrant and a single parent, you can imagine just how well any whining about things not being fair, or complaining about things being hard were received. She set an example for us that we continually try to live up to.
She had a very unique relationship with each of her 5 grandchildren, all of whom thought she was the best grandmother on the planet. Her favorite granddaughter, Mariah and her were attached at the hip and like two peas in a pod from the start, right up to the end. Her son Brian finds it amusing that Elijah had a love/hate relationship with her (trust us kid, it'll mean a lot more to you one day than you know.) She referred to Adam as Little Sheldon, was in the room for his birth and was a trusty walking partner to her. She imparted a lot of wisdom and guidance to Alexander. "The Boss", aka Julian, was the one that somehow cracked the code to "Tess." Much to her 3 children and 4 other grandchildren's amazement, he somehow seemed to have her wrapped around his finger.
We are sure all of her friends have had very similar experiences with our mom. While we all wish we had more time with her, she managed to have an impact on many people. That is something to be very proud of and we very much are.
Visiting Hours will be held at Casper Funeral Home, 187 Dorchester St in South Boston on Monday, March 14th from 5pm to 7pm. We kindly request that you do not send flowers. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider donating to the college fund (details pending) for her grandchildren or planting a tree in her honor.