[Dialogue] Teresa Remembrance by her daughter, Rebecca

[Richard Alton]

Below is a remembrance about my mom and some photos. Feel free to share
with the ICA community. Sorry it took me so long, it was a more sorrowful
project than I imagined.

All my best,
Rebecca


It is with deep sorrow that we share the loss of Dr.Teresa Lingafelter on
May 10th, 2020 at the age of 71. She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma on
April 10th. Teresa passed away at her home in northwest Portland,
overlooking the west hills covered in spring foliage.

She was born August 1, 1948 in Seattle, WA, daughter of William C. Tobin
and Margaret Tobin, and sister to William and Robert Tobin. She married
Robert Lingafelter in 1968, and had one daughter, Rebecca Lingafelter in
1978. She was mother-in-law to Mark Valadez, and was made a joyful
grandmother by Rosalind Grace Valadez in 2017. She was sister-in-law to
Susan Tobin, Tom and Kathy Lingafelter, Jim and Lynn Lingafelter, Dick and
Linda Lingafelter and Dan and Kitty Lingafelter. She was aunt to Enoch and
Colin Tobin, and Kerrie, Kristie, Sarah, Megan, Tanner and Sam Lingafelter.
And a good friend to many.

Teresa spent her life dedicated to the practice of creating a more just and
equitable world. Starting in grade school, she organized a strike by the
girls crossing guard to petition for new uniforms (which the boys guard had
already received). They got the new uniforms. She attended the University
of Washington, where she earned her BA in History and met Robert. They
joined Ithaca, a community of students and activists, self-described as a
“cadre”, working for radical social change. From there, Teresa and Robert
joined the Institute for Cultural Affairs whose mission is to build a just
and equitable society in harmony with planet Earth through empowering
cultural dimensions of the social process. Their work with the ICA took
them to the Philippines, Australia,  the inner city of Chicago, Jamaica,
Malaysia, and Belgium. In the mid-eighties, she returned to the United
States and began a new chapter working in the Mississippi Delta with PINAH
(Partners for Improved Nutrition and Health), an organization that
partnered with local community leaders as well as state and local health
agencies to address systemic issues of inequality in Mississippi’s
healthcare system. From Mississippi, she moved to California to work with
the Freedom From Hunger Foundation. In 1993, she began work on a Master’s
degree in Urban Planning at UCLA, graduating in 1996, and continuing on to
earn her PhD in Urban Planning in 2012. She wrote her dissertation on the
citizen-led Neighborhood Planning Program in Seattle, highlighting the ways
in which this democratic approach to planning resulted in a more equitable
distribution of resources to low-income neighborhoods. In addition to her
academic research which ranged from work on participatory action with SEIU
and home health workers to a program in south Los Angeles that gave cameras
to school children to create visual narratives of their lives in the
inner-city, Teresa worked as a consultant for non-profits and other groups,
applying her extensive skills in facilitation and strategic planning to a
wide range of organizations. These last few years saw her shifting her
focus towards family; contributing joyfully to Rosalind’s care, and
friends; taking frequent trips to Seattle for reunions with Ithaca and her
beloved book club.

Teresa was modest about her own achievements--her PhD, her writing,
strategic planning, leading conversations and workshops.  Her analytic mind
was awesome to encounter.  At the same time she savored the successes of
others with a cry of “brilliant.”  There was a generosity of spirit that
pervaded her encounters with others.  Teresacould also be unhesitatingly
abrupt when she believed you were not seeing the injustice in a situation.
When she was leading a group, she had the ability to step back and provide
the space for reflection and insight.

Teresa was a fierce and loyal friend and mother. She loved the newest
technology. She was the first to get a smart phone and to use it in all
sorts of ways.  She liked to monitor a lot of things, sleep, time on phone,
minutes exercising, calories.  She also had a deep historical understanding
that kept her focused on justice and equality and the long view.  She had a
special interest in medieval history and named her first i-phone, Clovis,
after the 5th Century King of the Franks. Teresa was always up for a “field
trip”.  A walk in the woods, a boat ride, a survey of the beach, a monitor
at the Women’s March all taken with a sense of adventure and joyfulness.
She relished encounters with animals especially dogs, though also harbor
seals, rabbits, cows, horses, turtles and goats. She approached cooking
with a combination of a general and a connoisseur.  She loved figuring out
what to cook.  And she was a terrific cook.  She was unafraid to try new
things, and encouraged experimentation. She loved dark Norwegian crime
novels, Shakespeare, never missed a Marvel movie, and was a self-admitted
podcast junkie.

She lived her life with profound intention and purpose and touched many
thousands of lives along her path. She was an incredible human being and
she is deeply missed.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
-JRR Tolkien



-- 
Richard H. T. Alton
One Earth Film Fest ( OEFF)
Green Community Connections
Interfaith Green Network
T: 773.344.7172
richard.alton at gmail.com
**Save the Date! One Earth Film Festival 2021, March *
http:www.oneearthfilmfestival.org

Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2
Won't you be my neighbor?
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