Theresa Cicciarelli (1940-2020)

CICCIARELLI, SCHMIDT

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 12/28/2020 at 16:17:54

Theresa (Murphy) Cicciarelli, 80, died Sunday, December 27, 2020 at Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque, Iowa due to Alzheimer’s Dementia.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated Thursday, December 31, 10:00 AM at St. Raphael Cathedral, Msgr. Tom Toale presiding. Friends may greet the family from 9 a.m. until the time of Mass at the church on Thursday. Guests may park in the lot at the back of church, and enter through the Parish Center. Mass will be live-streamed on the Cathedral of St.Raphael & St. Patrick Church YouTube page: CLICK HERE

Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 30, at Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Funeral Home and Crematory, 2659 John F. Kennedy Rd., Dubuque. Masks and social distancing are required at the church and funeral home.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.egelhofsiegertcasper.com, where a link to the live-stream is also available under the service information in Terry’s obituary.

“Terry” was born July 20, 1940 in Edgeley, North Dakota, the daughter of Kimball and Evata (Schmitt) Murphy. She married Dr. Frank Cicciarelli on May 11, 1963 in Edgeley, ND and, in June 1963, graduated from St. Theresa’s College, Winona, Minnesota with a B.S. degree in Nursing. Immediately after graduation she was appointed to a team leader position in the psychiatric unit of St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, MN working with Mayo Clinic physicians. In 1965 she and her family moved to Springfield, Illinois before moving permanently to Dubuque in 1966.

Terry’s spiritual values, confident initiative and engaging attitude propelled her many interests and commitments which mainly included service to family, friends, neighbors and community at large. While remaining devoted to her immediate family she helped several elderly or Ill neighbors, cared for several of the first Hospice of Dubuque patients, volunteered as a literacy mentor and was active on church social outreach committees. She was a member of the League of Women Voters, served on the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra Board and 14 years on the Dubuque Zoning Board of Adjustment, including a term as chairperson.

With an innate aesthetic sensitivity Terry pursued a love of art, architecture, literature, music and dance. She had an ear for and loved every kind of music from dancing to the polka bands in the beloved North Dakota of her youth to attendance at many performances of live opera in later life. Her crush on Elvis, as a teen in the 50’s, never went away. During a span of 50 years, the Dubuque Symphony concerts she missed can be counted on one hand. She loved it all: rock, jazz, folk, reggae, country, blues, R & B, swing, classical, opera. Reading and writing often carried her through the night into early morning. On top of her many artistic interests Terry was also an avid fan of professional tennis and auto racing. Go figure.

Terry is survived by her husband Frank of Dubuque; son Thomas with wife Deanna (VanLigten) and grandchildren Julian & Margo of Petaluma, CA; son Michael with wife Ann (Mihalakis) and grandchildren Anthony & Nickolas of Brownsburg, IN; daughter Monica of Dubuque; sisters Monica (Tim) Coder of Albuquerque and Mary Murphy of Seattle.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband’s parents.

Terry’s family thanks all of her devoted caregivers at Stonehill Care Center. Preferences for memorial contributions are St. Raphael Cathedral, Hospice of Dubuque or Dubuque Symphony Orchestra.