Page created by: Jacqueline Ruppert

For over sixteen years, Thérèse Martin Ruppert (née Gadbois), the matriarch of our family fought a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. She never complained about her diagnosis or the changes it brought to her body. She remained stoic and courageous and met her increasing debility with grace and faith. Thérèse passed peacefully on Monday, May 31, 2021, surrounded by family.

Thérèse, known as Terry, was born on October 3, 1935, to Peter and Agnes Gadbois in White Plains, NY. She was their first child, the apple of her parents’ eyes, and a devoted older sister to her three younger siblings. Devotion, in fact, is a word that very accurately describes her. Terry was devoted to her family—Clarence, her husband of nearly forty years who pre-deceased her, her four children, her eight grandchildren, and her many nieces and nephews—and to her strong Catholic faith.

Terry graduated from the Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel in White Plains, New York in 1953; Mary Immaculate Hospital School of Nursing in Jamaica, New York in 1956; and from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York in 1959.

Terry’s life was one of service and dedication to others. One of her first jobs as a RN was as a charge nurse at the VA Hospital in Albany, New York. Later, she worked as a school nurse and educator for the Harrison, New York public school system where she retired after 25 years. She was a member of St. Peter’s parish in Danbury, Connecticut for 49 years, where she volunteered at the rectory office and served on the Women’s Guild.

Terry never let her Parkinson’s disease slow her down, as noted by her grandchildren, who often had to trot alongside her to keep up with her quick “speed-walker” pace. She always exhibited compassion and concern for others, even as her disease progressed and became more painful and debilitating. Being a nurse, Terry understood the significance of being diagnosed with a disease like Parkinson’s more than the rest of her family and faced her illness with strength and fortitude that is an inspiration to all.