Theresa Joan Fitzpatrick, at the age of 16, was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Theresa J. Fitzpatrick | 02/10/1994- 06/30/2013
My sister Theresa (also known as T, TT, Teeta, Teeter and countless other iterations), was born on a snowy, winter day, February 10th, 1994. Our family moved to Cheshire, Connecticut when she was about three years old and we spent the rest of our childhoods there. She attended Chapman Elementary School and Dodd Middle School and graduated in 2012 from Cheshire High School, where she was Captain of her tennis and soccer teams and voted “Class Cutie” and Senior Prom Queen by her peers. Theresa went on to complete her freshman year at Quinnipiac University, where she majored in Biology.
Theresa was an avid sports fan and excelled in tennis, in addition to playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She and I spent our summers at the Copper Valley Club, where we were on the swim team (not her strong suit), and forged friendships with our neighbors that continue to this day. She also loved to ski in Vermont and spend summer afternoons on the beach in Watch Hill, RI.
The first thing most people remember about Theresa is her infectious smile and unfiltered laugh. She was kind hearted, hilarious without trying to be, and had an incredible and natural ability to be her authentic self, no matter who she was with. As such, she attracted a large and extremely loyal group of friends, at all stages of her life.
When she was not busy with her full social, scholastic and athletic calendar, Theresa loved to read and spend time with our family, watching sports or playing cards and boardgames. She enjoyed listening to country, rap and pop music, and had a special connection to Taylor Swift. She also had a small obsession with stuffed animals (shout out to Deeter) and was known to rock a tie-dye T-shirt or hoodie on many occasions.
Theresa’s three years with cancer brought pain and hardship that few of us can imagine, yet they were defined by anything but suffering. Theresa led the last years of her life with the same resolve. enthusiasm, compassion and love that we came to admire about her. She continued to do what she did best; be unapologetically herself. Theresa’s spirit inspired and continues to inspire others.
Whether you are one of the many who miss her every single day, or someone who knows her through photographs, stories and Battleship events alone, she and her message of “Keep Smiling” carry on.
-Joe Fitzpatrick
Keep Smiling
Our motto, keep smiling, comes from Theresa’s contagious smile. Despite the chemotherapy, surgeries, and all of the side effects that came with them, Theresa never lost the qualities that made her so special.
“I’d like the memory of me
to be a happy one,
I’d like to leave an afterglow
of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
of happy times and laughing
times and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those
who grieve, to dry before the sun.
Of happy memories that I leave
when life is done”
