Theresa (“Tessa”) Maria Elena da Gama Rose Shenoy passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA surrounded by her family, after a period of declining health.
Tessa was the sixth child born to the late Francis and Theofile da Gama Rose. She was initially raised in Kenya and then moved to Ajmer, India with her family. Her father, a lawyer died suddenly when she was a little girl, and her mother a teacher raised Tessa and her five siblings on her own. Her mother, was a tremendous inspiration and influence in her life and instilled a great faith in God in her children.
After High School, Tessa moved to Bombay and studied at St Xavier’s College where she got her Bachelor’s degree as a Double Honors student in Psychology and Philosophy. Then she went on to get her Post graduate degree in Teaching and embarked on a brilliant and award-winning teaching career first at Presentation Convent in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu and then at Campion School – a very prestigious Jesuit school in Bombay (Mumbai).
Mum was intelligent, ambitious and enterprising and secured a scholarship to do post graduate studies in Rome. From Rome she went to London and studied at the University there and taught in a school at the same time. Some of her happiest memories were of her days in London. There she met and married our dad, Louis (Aloysius) Shenoy, and returned to Bombay where they had the four of us. When we were quite young, Mum went back to teaching at Campion School and is remembered very fondly by her students to this day. As a teacher, she brought alive countries and cultures to her students. They kept in touch with her even five decades after they graduated. Her work ethic was stellar and her sense of integrity and justice second to none.
Mum was such a strong role model for her daughters – juggling work and raising a big family at a time in India when very few of her peers worked outside the home. Mum was kind and compassionate, feisty, full of laughter, and made friends easily.
In retirement, Mum traveled the world to experience and explore cultures. In the last ten years, she traveled to different parts of the USA including Alaska, South America, Antarctica, and India.
Mum is preceded in death by her beloved husband Louis and third child Rahul, her parents and all her brothers and sisters. She leaves behind her sorrowing children Ranjit, Amiya (Abraham) and Nisha (Tony), and adoring grandchildren Natasha (fiancé Kevin), Sonia (fiancé Vineet), Evan, Jeremy, Lara and Katya. She instilled in us her values and a lifelong interest in learning and for that we are deeply grateful.
Visitation will be held on Saturday September 21, 2024, from 9 to 9:45 a.m. at St. Bridget’s Church (832 Worcester Road, Framingham) followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Bridget’s Church in her name.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Norton Funeral Home, 53 Beech St. (Corner of Union Ave.) Framingham.
To leave a message of condolence please visit www.nortonfuneralhome.com
McCarthy McKinney Lawler Funeral Home