Therese Marie Galvez-Carrera - Online Memorial Website

Therese's Eulogy

as presented by our dad, Richard Galvez

Therese Marie Galvez Carrera was a truly loving, caring, and giving person. Her love for her God, her husband, and her children has always been a first place given. Therese was one of our wonderful gifts from God. She lived graciously and generously for others. When I look on her life, it was a simple truth that she practiced that directive of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Her giving of that love, because of its complete sincerity was returned by all whose lives she touched, and if you know Therese she touched all of us with her love.

But let’s go back to when she was a child. Even as a small three year old (and younger) she had that infectious smile that told people “I care for you!” As a doting parent I felt her love then as I have felt her love all the years of her life. One day at about age three she swallowed a penny so we took her to the hospital where they decided to keep her over night to assure the penny passed through her system. In that short time she had all the nurses and attendants showing their love for her. And, when we got to the hospital to take her home the next day she was so happy to see us, she flew into my arms the same way that you see Stephanie running full tilt into Art’s arms.

Much of the love between Therese and her sister, Celine, was shown in the fifteen days that Therese was in the Intensive Care Unit. Their mother, Lin, and I saw it. A few of the words she spoke to the nurse and to me after I mentioned to Therese that Celine was in tears in the waiting room was “My Daddy said something nice and I cried.” When I asked her what the nice thing I said was she said “Celine cried for me.” This showed the Love that both of them have for each other.

Therese through her growing years, starting as the baby we mentioned, was a child who made an effort to make the right choices. She was good with quotation marks and with an exclamation point. She did all those things that a good girl was supposed to do: Always cleaned her room and made her bed; did dishes and other chores though often times the chores were her sister’s or brother’s assigned tasks; did her homework and studied when she was supposed to, she was always mindful of her mother’s requests and often offered help though not asked. And, all important, she learned her religion well as did her brother and sister. Her religion was always a part of her life especially in her later years.

After high school starting at Gomes Elementary School, Hopkins Junior High School and through Mission San Jose High School, she matriculated to U. C. Berkeley where she started in Engineering. After one or two years she found that Engineering was not for her so she enrolled in the U.C. College of Environmental Design with an Architecture major. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture at Cal and worked on and off at her father’s office, but rather than immediately going full tilt into her chosen field of Architecture, she chose to marry and have children.

Therese was a stay at home Mother for several years before applying at the County of Alameda for a position in computer graphics which was somewhat related to her studies in Architecture though specifically in only one area. She became quite expert in very quickly producing the graphics that she was called upon to do and many more that she was not called to do that helped in the processing of her overall graphics and planning work. I, personally was given the opportunity, after retiring in 1994, and I attribute this to the Lord our God, I was given the opportunity to spend the last ten years + or – working with Therese, both of us in one graphics and Architecture cubicle at the County of Alameda. The Lord knew where He was going with Therese’s life and I thank Him so very much for these years of quality time with my daughter.

Her Mother says that Therese was very blessed to be together with her Dad at work, and Therese did write in one of her messages to her Mother: “Only God could have planned this.”

Therese could easily have been a soloist because she had a beautiful voice, but singing was either for recreation or for religious songs to her God. When very young, her sister Celine wanted very much to play softball in the girls’/ women’s league in Fremont. Her mother told the two girls, “If Celine plays, Therese had to play too.” Therese and Celine did very well with the teams for which they played for several years. My point is that Therese had many interests, she went from interest to interest such as: piano, tennis, sewing, tasting various foods at restaurants, cooking, etc., with the first and foremost in her life being her God, her husband and her family, with everything else coming after God and family.

Therese was very close to her brother and sister-in-law, Michael & Cheryl. Michael and Cheryl readily cared for her three children when Therese needed. And, Therese and Art would care for Michael’s two children when the need arose. More than that, they were Co-Madres and Compadres. You could feel the love radiate when the two families got together. And, the children always called Auntie Celine to come to various functions.

Prior to a reunion of six generations of the Galvez / Credo family which was to be held in Sacramento, Therese, sometimes with Art, would drive to the various homes of her cousins in Sacramento, Tracy and Woodland, participating in planning sessions on given weekends for nearly a year before the very large family reunion held in June 2009. She got to know those cousins very well, many of whom are with us today. The cousins in turn got to know this loving cousin and her very caring ways, as well as her penchant for planning parties. But most of all they felt the love and caring that Therese radiated. The Lord made sure Therese touched everyone she should love before He beckoned her to come with Him.

Let me get back to her caring influence of all those with whom she came in contact. I’ll quote from John Milburn’s message to Art when he heard that the Lord had taken Therese: Art, Sorry I am in Korea and unable to be there. Throughout high school Therese was my across the street neighbor, and in many ways my anchor. We shared a few classes at Mission San Jose High School, and for a while I tutored her in calculus. We continued to keep in touch while we were both at Berkeley. I was a wayward and troublemaking adolescent. She was a moral and ethical foundation, who never stopped believing I would find a proper path, and who always encouraged me to be better. I miss and grieve her loss deeply. She was the finest person I have ever known. . . . John

John, now a scientist, was that wayward and troublemaking adolescent. He would tap at our door late at night and talk with us. Therese and I sat with him many times. His words “She was the finest person I have ever known” has been expressed in many different ways by many others. I bring this up because it exemplifies Therese and her caring love for all those she knew and those with whom she came in contact.

In the days before and after she went with her God, the celebration of which we celebrate, the Lord and Therese left messages, some of which I will mention: 1. Her devout brother-in-law, Bill, sat quietly in the waiting room crying and Therese appeared to him. He asked her, are you ready to go with our God? Her answer was a resounding Yes !!!; 2. Art had a dream for the second time, the first time was about a month or more ago. In the dream Therese was leaving him. We all know that the only reason she would leave Art and their children would be to go with God;

Next, a significant sign from Therese: And, remember St. Therese of the Little Flower, her namesake: On Mother’s day Therese and her Mother, Lin, had a one on one special day in which they did things they loved to do: Shop in special places, eat in special places, and talk. . . and talk. . . and talk. Lin said that they had a wonderful day !!! That day Therese gave Lin a basket of pretty pink flowers decorated with ornamental greenery. After keeping them indoors a few days, Lin took her Mothers’ Day gift basket, put it on our entry porch, and watered the plants. The plants withered and dried out and seemed to die. On July 20, 2010, one pretty red rose appeared, alive and beautiful on one of the shriveled stems. It’s still there, alive and beautiful. No other flowers in the basket are in bloom. Our Therese of the Little Flower with this one beautiful red rose told her mother, I’m going with God and His angels and His saints. Our Therese will be buried in front of the statue of Saint Therese of the Little Flower. Saint Therese of the Little Flower had a sister, Celine, whom she loved very much. . . The same as does our Therese.

And last: As all of the Carrera family, the Galvez family, and other family members prayed the Rosary around Therese’s bed in the Intensive Care Unit and as I watched her breathing while I prayed, with the clock on the wall in front of me, and: From the words of the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery before the start of the decade, as her Mother, Lin, led the prayer she said: Jesus uttered a loud cry and said, “Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit.” This is precisely when Therese took her last breath. It was 8:42 P.M. Tuesday, July 20, 2010.

Therese, we celebrated your life with your loving family, we celebrated your life with your secondary/support group family the Carrera’s & the Galvez’s, we celebrated your life with your Saturday extended family of many caring friends, and now, we celebrate your new life, with God the Father, God the Son-Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, with all of His Angels and all of His Saints.

We all love you as you loved all !!!

Thank you !!!