Nationality:    British
Congregational Register No.  293
D.O.B.:   08.12.1925
First Profession:   01.06.1954
Died:  12.02.2010   Aged:  84 years
Teresa Margaret Headon was born in Gainford, Nr. Darlington, Co. Durham in the north of England.  Teresa was educated at St. William’s Primary School and Immaculate Conception Secondary School, followed by a year at Bishop’s Commercial College, all in Darlington.

She worked in an office in Darlington for three years before undertaking training as a fever nurse in Darlington Borough Isolation Hospital.  From there she went to Yorkshire to train as a general nurse at Hartlepool Hospital.  She entered MMM a year after obtaining her SRN and took the name Sr. Mary Therese Immaculee.

Following first profession Sr. Therese worked as a ward sister in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, until she was missioned to Nigeria in October1955. She worked at St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua as theatre sister and relief ward sister until 1960, when she returned to Ireland for final profession.  Following final vows she went to Scotland, where she  obtained her RCI (to be a clinical instructor) at the Royal College of Nursing, Edinburgh.

In June 1961, Sr. Therese returned to Anua, where she was the sister in charge of the theatre and clinical instructress for several years before returning to Edinburgh to study for her mental nurse qualification at the Royal Hospital.  She returned to Drogheda as clinical instructress for two years and then did her midwifery training at Holles Street, Dublin. After this Sr. Therese spent a few months nursing in Rhodesia and then ten years in various nursing positions in England. She returned to Ireland to work first in Drogheda and then at Waterford Maternity Hospital before she semi-retired to Drogheda.  She worked as energetically as ever, always the ‘cheerful giver’, driving, doing telephone and refectory duties, and generally filling in wherever she saw a need.  She had a great sense of humour and was the life and soul of any celebration, always happy to recite with great gusto her party piece, ‘Albert at the Zoo’.  She was a great devotee of St. Therese of Lisieux and, increasingly, as she aged and gradually slowed down, followed the ‘Little Way’, uniting herself with missionaries everywhere.

She moved to Áras Mhuire in June 2008, where she was lovingly cared for by the staff who described her as a lovely lady.  Although her health had been deteriorating, it came as a shock when she died. She had been doing well and had been up and about, attending Mass and eating in the dining room as usual only the day before.  She was unresponsive when the staff went to wake her on the morning of 12 February. A doctor was called, and the Sacrament of the Sick was administered.  The Mass was relayed into her room and at the end of the Mass, with the words ‘The Mass is ended; go in peace and serve the Lord’, Therese raised both hands and went to God.