Teresa Elizabeth O'Malley

Teresa Elizabeth O'Malley died May 28th at the age of 85. Her funeral mass will be held on Friday, June 9th, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ft. Collins, CO. Teresa was born in 1938, to a railroad doctor and his wife in Kansas City, Missouri, the 7th of 13 children. During her younger years, waiting up for her dad to return home, riding the trolley, shopping at the Plaza, and visiting the farm were some of her favorite activities. Teresa described Christmases as a "winter wonderland with plays and huge parties." At an early age, Teresa began her favorite doll collection that lasted throughout her life. At age 14, Teresa attended St. Teresa Academy, a Catholic all-girls school. Not surprisingly, Teresa discovered "boys" and started dating, predominately double dating, in hopes of not having to do the family's dishes.

At 19, Teresa met her husband, Don, while on a date at the fair with Don's brother. Don and Teresa were married November 16, 1957 and within the first two years of marriage, they were blessed with two sons. The family then moved to Wichita, Kansas where Don went to manage KLEO radio station; and that is where three more sons were born. (At one point, Teresa had four sons under the age of five). While in Wichita, Teresa enjoyed hosting parties, being in the Jaycee Janes, and playing both tennis and bridge. Most of the time, she kept busy caring for her house and her men with endless piles of laundry, shopping errands galore, and transporting her boys to their ever-expanding activities which included meals at the country club in attempts to teach them manners. In addition, Teresa found time to bake her sons yummy Choo-Choo trains for their birthdays and to be a cub scout leader. One adventurous day, Teresa decided to ride her eldest son's heavy motorcycle and immediately popped a wheelie down the driveway, across the street, into the neighbors' yard, and came to rest in their bushes. Needless to say, Teresa gave up her dreams of being a motorcycling mama.

Midstream, the family moved to Pratt, Kansas when Don bought KWNS radio station. Small town life was very good to the family and most of the boys went to high school there. Five years later, the family moved to Greeley, Colorado when they bought KYOU and KGRE radio stations. While in Greeley, Teresa shared their family's heritage with the community when her Irish family recipes were published in the Greeley Tribune in a St. Patrick's Day article. After the radio stations were sold, Don and Teresa moved to Lubbock, Texas for a short while before returning to the Kansas City area to be near some of their immediate and extended families in Leawood, Kansas.

While in Leawood, Don and Teresa enjoyed hosting and attending their church's "Dinner for 8". They were active committee members in the Kansas City St. Patrick Day parades and involved in various other civic, community, and parish activities. Teresa enjoyed a variety of community Bible Study groups, being a mass lector, and learning to play the piano, harp, and other instruments, as well as spending time with family and friends. During these years, Teresa had a variety of jobs including working at the Nelson Art Gallery, an apartment leasing office, a bank, and in real-estate. She was also a trained Master Gardener volunteer as well as a mother-in-law extraordinaire as she pulled an all-nighter with her daughter-in-law when she was in labor with Teresa's second grandchild.

The most fun job/hobby Teresa had though was being a clown. Teresa was known as "Giggles the Clown." She would spend hours preparing her makeup and adorning her wig, nose, clown outfit, and shoes. Teresa performed with her clown group at the KC Auditorium and individually at hospitals, festivals and birthday parties. Teresa's grandchildren have fond memories of her puppets, balloon creations, and face painting along with baking and watching movies.

In 2014, Don, the love of Teresa's life, went to be with the Lord and charged his sons with taking care of their mother, Teresa. Shortly thereafter, Teresa moved to Ft. Collins to be closer to most of her sons and their families.

In Ft. Collins, Teresa enjoyed activities and the folks at the Worthington and New Mercer Commons. One resident said that Teresa reached out to her when no one else did. Teresa enjoyed outings and meals with her family and was particularly fond of Christmas, birthdays, and 4th of July celebrations. Teresa appreciated her friend and family's visits, flowers, gifts, and phone calls including extended times reading through the Bible and praying for her family. Teresa really loved the mountains. Whenever she saw them she would exclaim, "Aren't they pretty?" Teresa was a devoted follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was a prayer warrior for her sons, her daughters-in-laws, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A decade ago, Teresa gave advice to her yet to be great-grandchildren, "Be good to your parents and grandparents; and get along with your family, those relationships will last." We thank the Lord for the legacy Teresa left us, the love she demonstrated for the Lord, His Word, her family, and others, the prayers she prayed over her family, and the contagious joy she shared of life and God's creation. We are thankful too that even with her memory fading so much, she remembered each of her favorite sons, what a wonderful gift. And we are thankful that now she is blessed to be in the Lord's presence and reunited with her beloved Don.

"Faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love." I Cor. 13:13

Teresa is survived by her sons - Don, Mike, Terry, Pat, and Brien; her daughters-in-laws - Theresa, Beth, Maggie, and Tami; her grandchildren-Liam, Sean, Keelin, Ryan, Joshua, and Christy(Matt), her great-granddaughters-Maddie and Emmie; her brothers-Paul O'Brien (Mary Jo) and Larry O'Brien(Gloria); her brother-in-law and sister-in-law - Ed and Mary Kaminsky; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews descendants from both the O'Malley and O'Brien clans scattered throughout the world.

Giggles the Clown has Left the Building!