Obituary: Teresa Marie Noel Kristan, 67, of Wallingford

WALLINGFORD, CT - (From Wallingford Funeral Home) On the cloudy Wednesday of April 6th, 2022 at 4:45pm Teresa Marie Noel Kristan entered the ethereal great beyond. She shocked us all on Sunday when she suffered a profound stroke.

Daughter Julia Kristan and son Nicholas Kaminski rushed to Connecticut to be with her and our father, her husband Edward Kaminski. We were showered with loving calls, texts and emails from her supportive family and friends.

In honoring her years-long wishes to die with dignity we spent her last peaceful day on earth playing favorite songs with the four of us together. She then graciously or perhaps mischievously gave us the Irish goodbye and died when we left her bedside to get food.

Teresa was a one-of-a kind woman, wry, witty and kind. She came from one of many as the 7th born of 9 children to Helen Chappo and Julius Kristan. The reunion on the other side must surely be a joyful one filled with baked goods, card playing and sky watching. She’ll dance with Tommy, have coffee with Joan and smoke ciggies with Vir. We know she’s looking forward to the next Oscars with Peg from the best seat in the house.

As you’re reading this you might want to cry, and that’s okay. But as her daughter, I am certain she would be disappointed if you didn’t also recall a hilarious memory or two. Teresa would be the first to have her shoulders shaking with laughter at a funeral.

She’d be engaging in brilliant, acerbic dialogue on whatever subject was at hand. Then a smile and she’d ask about your family. Soup was made for many of you in the hard times. In her own family she thrived in her role as a loyal younger sibling always ready with puns and her “fine china” contribution for gatherings.

She and her “smartest sister” would compete to finish the most challenging NY Times crosswords in ink. As a favorite aunt of 26 nieces and nephews, she would let the next generation talk earnestly and give the most astute, snarky advice. In her softest moments she was grandmother and great aunt, mellowed or maybe just tired from years of getting the best comeback with everyone else.

She and Edward had lockers next to each other in middle school, and he can tell you that she was the best thing to happen to him; she might not be quoted as saying the same of him. Their 44 years of marriage were reflective of her stubborn, pragmatic and game approach to life. They were truly for better or worse, in sickness and in health.

Ed will miss cooking for his best friend but not her weekly “food option.” Together you would find them most happily at Archie’s, visiting libraries, seeing Julia and grandson Elijah, along with their favorite bartenders in Philadelphia, MLB games with Nick or taking drives around to admire the autumnal leaves of New England. Evenings at their Wallingford home would find Teresa deep in a book with Ed napping on the other couch bathed in the magical glow of their unique artificial illumination.

Most of you reading this will know her from her job of 42 years at the Wallingford Public Library. It was beyond a job. It was, and is, a family of dear friends who love books and love each other more. Being surrounded by the interesting minds of the patrons, coworkers, and authors of the ages gave her true joie de vivre. Her wit and wisdom are already missed in the lives of everyone she touched.

Edward, Julia and Nicholas request in lieu of flowers that any generosity be in the form of donations to Master’s Manna at 428 South Cherry Street, Wallingford, CT (203) 678-3042.