Obituary for Teresa Carmel Bohme
BOHME, Teresa Carmel (née: O’Shea)
July 16, 1934 – Cork, Ireland
January 17, 2019 – Calgary, Alberta
Teresa Bohme, beloved wife of Calvin George Bohme, passed away peacefully on Jan 17, 2019 at the age of 84.
Teresa (Tess) will be lovingly remembered by her children, Gerald (Anne), Brennan (Jinny), and Susan; her grandchildren, Jacob, Claire, Sara, Eddie, Alex and Sean; her sisters Kitty, Nora, and Ann; and her brother-in-law Keith. She will also be sorely missed by numerous other in-laws, nieces, and nephews from her large extended O’Shea and Bohme families. Teresa was predeceased by preciously remembered siblings, Maureen, Joan, Peggie, Breda, Jerry and John.
At her request, a private family cremation has been held, with a proper Irish celebration of Teresa’s extraordinary life to take place in the Spring. Further details on the celebration will be added to this site when they are finalized.
The family wishes to thank all those who have been directly and indirectly involved in making her last years, and especially the last few months, as peaceful as possible. We especially wish to thank her many visitors as well as Dr. Leonard, Brenda Melsson, and all of the Revera Scenic Acres staff who treated her with such kindness and care.
Teresa was born in Cork Ireland, the second youngest of the large family of Jeremiah and Lena O’Shea. Although Teresa often spoke of the challenges of growing up in Ireland in the 1940s and 50s, especially the passing at a young age of her beloved older brother Jerry, she also often reminisced about the beauty of the country and told many tales of her close connection to family and friends. Following schooling and some early work experience in Cork, Teresa decided as a young adult to follow her older sister Nora’s example and to emigrate to Alberta, Canada in search of adventure and opportunity. During her early years in Alberta, Teresa enjoyed working for Alberta Government Telephones, proudly remembering later in life how her outgoing personality and lilting accent convinced AGT to send her around the province to work face to face in Customer Service.
In the early 1960s Teresa met Calvin Bohme on a golf course, and the two were married in September 1964. Their three children soon followed in 1965 (Gerald), 1967 (Brennan), and 1969 (Susan). Life with a young family was made more challenging by the frequent relocations created by Calvin’s work, and Teresa liked to remind him later in life of the 13 times they had to move homes in the first 7 years of their marriage. Although the family eventually settled for good in the mid 1970s in Calgary, Teresa’s love of travel and Calvin’s work took them to numerous locations together including Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, as well as the regular family summer vacation tours through the BC interior.
Although Teresa had many points of pride, including a love of cooking, a pride in the home she had created with Calvin in Calgary, and a pride in her three eventual-engineer children, her true passion was a love of social interaction. Teresa was lucky to have wonderful friends and neighbours in all of the places that she lived, but especially lucky to have close connections to her very large extended families in Ireland and Canada. Her frequent trips to Ireland kept her in close contact with her parents, brother and sisters, and her large contingent of nieces and nephews, many of whom returned the favour by visiting her and travelling with her in Canada. Similarly, in Canada she enjoyed nothing more than get-togethers with her sister Nora and family as well as with her Bohme in-laws and her even larger Canadian contingent of Bohme nieces and nephews. Her relative youth meant that she was close in age to many of her older nieces and nephews, and many remember her as more of a playful adventurous older sister than an Aunt.
Teresa’s enjoyment of family grew even more when she first became a grandmother (she insisted on being called Nana) in 1996 (Jacob) and again in 1999 (Claire), spending as much time as possible with her Calgary grandkids and teaching them her favourite poems, sayings, and songs. Her next grandchildren appeared a little later in more distant parts of the world (Sara and Sean in South Korea, Eddie and Alex in New Zealand), but that didn’t stop her from being a loving Nana initially by Skype and then in person during their later visits to Calgary.
Teresa first started dealing with memory problems a decade ago, but although that added some complications to her life and ended her long distance travels, it didn’t affect her love of time with her family or her frequent local trips with Calvin to the family farm in Rocky Mountain House. The memory issues were further complicated by a diagnosis of cancer in 2017, however she was determined to stay at home and enjoy her life as much as possible until finally having to move to a care home in July 2018. She became well known quickly at the care home as the elegant smiling lady who charmed many of the staff members; they, in turn, treated her with compassion, love and friendship. Her final months there were also blessed by regular visits from her extended family and friends, constant love and care from her three children and her daughter-in-law Anne, and the never-ending companionship and assistance from her husband Calvin. Although she is gone in body, her spirit remains as expressed by her favorite sayings and poems:
“Remember Me as you go by, As you are now so once was I
As I am now so shall you be, Prepare yourself to follow me
To follow you is my intent, If I only knew which way you went😊”
“In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in this glorious Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And in departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time”
"Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis"
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Teresa, please visit www.choicememorial.com
July 16, 1934 – Cork, Ireland
January 17, 2019 – Calgary, Alberta
Teresa Bohme, beloved wife of Calvin George Bohme, passed away peacefully on Jan 17, 2019 at the age of 84.
Teresa (Tess) will be lovingly remembered by her children, Gerald (Anne), Brennan (Jinny), and Susan; her grandchildren, Jacob, Claire, Sara, Eddie, Alex and Sean; her sisters Kitty, Nora, and Ann; and her brother-in-law Keith. She will also be sorely missed by numerous other in-laws, nieces, and nephews from her large extended O’Shea and Bohme families. Teresa was predeceased by preciously remembered siblings, Maureen, Joan, Peggie, Breda, Jerry and John.
At her request, a private family cremation has been held, with a proper Irish celebration of Teresa’s extraordinary life to take place in the Spring. Further details on the celebration will be added to this site when they are finalized.
The family wishes to thank all those who have been directly and indirectly involved in making her last years, and especially the last few months, as peaceful as possible. We especially wish to thank her many visitors as well as Dr. Leonard, Brenda Melsson, and all of the Revera Scenic Acres staff who treated her with such kindness and care.
Teresa was born in Cork Ireland, the second youngest of the large family of Jeremiah and Lena O’Shea. Although Teresa often spoke of the challenges of growing up in Ireland in the 1940s and 50s, especially the passing at a young age of her beloved older brother Jerry, she also often reminisced about the beauty of the country and told many tales of her close connection to family and friends. Following schooling and some early work experience in Cork, Teresa decided as a young adult to follow her older sister Nora’s example and to emigrate to Alberta, Canada in search of adventure and opportunity. During her early years in Alberta, Teresa enjoyed working for Alberta Government Telephones, proudly remembering later in life how her outgoing personality and lilting accent convinced AGT to send her around the province to work face to face in Customer Service.
In the early 1960s Teresa met Calvin Bohme on a golf course, and the two were married in September 1964. Their three children soon followed in 1965 (Gerald), 1967 (Brennan), and 1969 (Susan). Life with a young family was made more challenging by the frequent relocations created by Calvin’s work, and Teresa liked to remind him later in life of the 13 times they had to move homes in the first 7 years of their marriage. Although the family eventually settled for good in the mid 1970s in Calgary, Teresa’s love of travel and Calvin’s work took them to numerous locations together including Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Bolivia, as well as the regular family summer vacation tours through the BC interior.
Although Teresa had many points of pride, including a love of cooking, a pride in the home she had created with Calvin in Calgary, and a pride in her three eventual-engineer children, her true passion was a love of social interaction. Teresa was lucky to have wonderful friends and neighbours in all of the places that she lived, but especially lucky to have close connections to her very large extended families in Ireland and Canada. Her frequent trips to Ireland kept her in close contact with her parents, brother and sisters, and her large contingent of nieces and nephews, many of whom returned the favour by visiting her and travelling with her in Canada. Similarly, in Canada she enjoyed nothing more than get-togethers with her sister Nora and family as well as with her Bohme in-laws and her even larger Canadian contingent of Bohme nieces and nephews. Her relative youth meant that she was close in age to many of her older nieces and nephews, and many remember her as more of a playful adventurous older sister than an Aunt.
Teresa’s enjoyment of family grew even more when she first became a grandmother (she insisted on being called Nana) in 1996 (Jacob) and again in 1999 (Claire), spending as much time as possible with her Calgary grandkids and teaching them her favourite poems, sayings, and songs. Her next grandchildren appeared a little later in more distant parts of the world (Sara and Sean in South Korea, Eddie and Alex in New Zealand), but that didn’t stop her from being a loving Nana initially by Skype and then in person during their later visits to Calgary.
Teresa first started dealing with memory problems a decade ago, but although that added some complications to her life and ended her long distance travels, it didn’t affect her love of time with her family or her frequent local trips with Calvin to the family farm in Rocky Mountain House. The memory issues were further complicated by a diagnosis of cancer in 2017, however she was determined to stay at home and enjoy her life as much as possible until finally having to move to a care home in July 2018. She became well known quickly at the care home as the elegant smiling lady who charmed many of the staff members; they, in turn, treated her with compassion, love and friendship. Her final months there were also blessed by regular visits from her extended family and friends, constant love and care from her three children and her daughter-in-law Anne, and the never-ending companionship and assistance from her husband Calvin. Although she is gone in body, her spirit remains as expressed by her favorite sayings and poems:
“Remember Me as you go by, As you are now so once was I
As I am now so shall you be, Prepare yourself to follow me
To follow you is my intent, If I only knew which way you went😊”
“In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in this glorious Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And in departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time”
"Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis"
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Teresa, please visit www.choicememorial.com