Teresa Maria Mattio Ferrari Obituary (1920

Teresa grew up in a bilingual household. In her autobiography, she wrote, "Ours was a unique household; conversations were spoken in Italian and English. It was much the same as turning on a hot or cold-water faucet, depending on the need. With Mama we spoke Tuscan Italian, the closest to the pure form of the national language. Papa, who had had a substantial education in Italy spoke fluently in Italian as well as in his Piemontese dialect... the English I learned was from my older siblings and I had no problem entering grammar school." After graduating from Placer Union High School in Auburn, California, Teresa attended Placer Junior College for two years, where she received honors in her classes. Her Aunt Marietta and Uncle John Peroni, invited her to live with them in Seattle, and offered to pay for her education at the University of Washington, where she studied to be an art and French language teacher. After graduating with a BA in art education in 1946, Teresa taught art at Enumclaw High School, and later at James Madison Jr. High, with the ambition of attending Columbia Teachers College in New York. Then Roy Ferrari entered her life. When she was 16, Teresa met her future husband Roy for the first time, at a picnic at Macdonald's Grove in Maple Valley, where the Italians would gather in the summer. She was not impressed with their first meeting. She wrote, "He was a chubby, cute kid but not someone I would have dreamed of choosing for a life mate." Several years later when she was living with her aunt and uncle, a visitor showed up at their home while Teresa was putting up her hair in pin curls. Curiosity hastened her to finish setting her hair, dash on some lipstick, and boldly enter the kitchen to find out who it was. Roy Ferrari, whose parents happened to be good friends of her aunt and uncle, had stopped by to deliver some venison after a successful hunting trip. Before the night was over this handsome young man, a student of engineering at the University of Washington had asked Teresa out on a date. They were married on September 7, 1946 at St. Edward's Church. After working as one of the youngest supervisors at Boeing during the war, Roy joined his father in the construction business, and in 1948 moved his bride into a beautiful, new, brick home that he had built on South Ferdinand St. They reared their family there, and resided there until his death in 1996. Having been an only child, Roy wanted a big family and Teresa agreed wholeheartedly. They had six; Nina, Lawrence, Roy Jr., Jimmy, Maria, and Johnny. Teresa loved to tell an amusing story about her Catholic obstetrician who claimed he charged no fee for delivery of the sixth child. True to his word, he delivered their youngest child, John free of charge. Even though she missed her sister, Ninfa, and California's warm weather, she embraced her husband's friends and relatives in her new Italian American community in Seattle, and the St. George parish and school community on Beacon Hill. Their marriage endured for 49 years, one month short of their 50th wedding anniversary. Their devotion to each other was intense, sweet and old-fashioned. They were fortunate to be able to work joyfully and creatively together in a wooden clock making business after Roy's retirement, selling their beautifully designed hand crafted wooden clocks all over the world. Teresa designed them and Roy crafted them. What many friends remember best about Teresa was her vivaciousness and generosity. She could make a total stranger feel like a life long friend. Teresa's children reminisce about bringing friends home for her always delicious Italian dinners and by the end of the evening they would feel like they had a new mother. She was a devout, prayerful, very private Catholic woman. Because she practiced her faith, she was able to give love unconditionally. She kept everyone's immediate problems, hopes, concerns, and ills in her daily prayers. Like a security blanket, her prayers kept her loved ones safe and at peace. Even though she endured a mother's worst tragedy, the loss of her son, Roy Jr., she continued to have an optimistic view of life and lived it with faith, hope and charity. Every second of her life was lived, in fact, with an intelligent, exuberant appreciation of it. She took nothing for granted to the point that she kept a daily journal until her last days in the hospital. Her autobiography details her childhood experiences in the Sierras, with loving portraits of her parents, and siblings and especially one of the most influential persons in her development, her aunt, Ernesta, whom she visited in the summers at Cape Horn. She, of course, adored her 8 grandchildren and delighted in all their accomplishments. She was the official photographer at all the family gatherings. After her husband, Roy's death, she moved to a condo in West Seattle and became very attached to her new community of friends there and at the West Seattle senior center. She had her own art studio in her condo, and continued practicing her skilled watercolor and Sumi paintings there. Teresa also created handcrafted collages, miniature pieces of art, in the form of treasured greeting cards, which she would send to friends and family for birthdays, Christmas' and Valentine's Day; It was always astounding to her family, so distracted by cyberspace, that Teresa would read 3 or 4 books a week, ranging from historical fiction to the classics or the latest prize winning novels. She was a regular at the local used books stores on California where she could trade in books she had read for new ones. She could talk about any subject and loved lively conversation. Teresa is survived by Nina, her husband, Gar; Lawrence, and wife Debbe; Kathi Ferrari, widow of Roy Jr., Jim and wife Tracie; Maria and husband, Vince; John, and wife, Michelle and by grandchildren, Angela, Francesca, OJ, Tina, Genevieve, Evan, Mia, and Alexandra, all of Seattle; and by her sister, Ninfa, of Surprise, Arizona, and her niece, Janet. Preceding her in death are her parents, Lorenzo and Teresa, her brothers John and Julius, and her sisters, Anita and Josephine, and her husband, Roy John, Sr. and her son, Roy John, Jr. The funeral service will be as follows: The Rosary will be held at Columbia Funeral Home on Tuesday, March 9th at 7:00 PM. The Funeral Mass will be at St. George Church on Wednesday, March 10th at 11:00 AM., with a reception following in the School Hall. Interment Holyrood Cemetery. The Pall-bearers will be Dan Borracchini, Remo Borracchini, Gene DiDonato, Louis Fontana, Craig Heath Nim, and Greg Rafanelli. Father John Madigan will be the presiding priest, with Deacon Sagato Pele assisting. Charitable Contributions can be made to the West Seattle Senior Center, 4217 SW Oregon St., Seattle, WA 98116. 206-932-4044. Please sign the guest book and share your memories of Teresa on this memorial (click 'Sign Guest Book').