Obituary of Theresa L. Tigges

Theresa L. Tigges, a mother of 10, passed away after a lengthy illness on Thursday afternoon, March 20, 2014. She was 85 years old. Theresa was born in Boston, the daughter of the late John and Amelia Casaletto. She grew up in the North End. She married and then made her home in East Boston. Her first husband, Stephen Schiavone passed away at a young age. She was blessed to meet Walter Tigges, also a widower, and they eventually married. They moved to a modest home in Burlington with 2 adults and 8 children with 1 bathroom. She made a loving home that was not only filled with children, but love, concern, understanding, turmoil, and laughter. She was always there for her children, during their accomplishments, challenges, and daily lives. The greatest gift of being a mother of 10 children, was having a boat load of grandchildren and great grandchildren. She loved being “Nana” to all her grandchildren and loving and appreciating each one for their special gifts and qualities. She was a fantastic Italian cook, but thoroughly enjoyed going out to eat. She was a big fan of all the Boston Sports teams. She always enjoyed testing her luck at Bingo, Foxwoods, and even once in Las Vegas. She had worked throughout the years at the Schrafft’s Candy Factory, the Phone Company, and at Value King in Burlington. Theresa’s legacy will be her family. Theresa was the loving wife of the late Walter J. Tigges, Jr. and late Stephen Schiavone. She was the loving mother of Stephen Schiavone of Seabrook, NH, Joan Tigges of E. Boston, Catherine Melander of FL, Robert Tigges of Allenstown, NH, Edward Tigges of Salem, NH, James Tigges of Burlington, Kenneth Tigges of Burlington, the late Rita O’Brien, Walter J. Tigges, III, and John Schiavone. She was predeceased by her siblings; Mary “Mimi” Hibbard, Angelina Tracia, Rita Chambers, Jimmy, John, Gerry, Michael, Robert “Iffy”, Joseph and Augustino “Pinky” Casaletto. Theresa was also survived by many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn Street, BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128/95, Woburn side) on Monday, March 24 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn Street, Burlington, at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Sunday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Theresa’s name may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. Family Remembrance By Jimmy My mother always told me that she didn’t want anyone to make a big deal made about her when she died; but when we were putting her arrangements together, I was told that not only should I say something, but I HAVE to say something. So I agreed. But then I was told it has to be five minutes or less. That’s when I said “are you kidding me?” There’s no way I could summarize her life in five minutes and those of you who know me, know that I love to talk and that I could go on and on --- But I’ll do my best to keep it short. So to honor my mother’s wishes -- I’ll talk a little about her -- a little about our family -- thank a few people -- and tell you one little story. The sad part is, we lost her at age 85; The not so sad part is – that we lost her at age 85; Not many people can say that; and not many people enjoy as many years as she did. She was the typical Italian mother. She loved cooking and enjoyed good food…but she really loved Bingo. She may not have been the fastest person in the world, but put a Bingo dauber in her hand and watch out. In fact, on the night of my bachelor party, she took Simone to Bingo for the very first time and Simone won. The hardcore Bingo players did not like that at all; but my mother was so happy for her. She was also a huge fan of all the Boston sports teams. As recently as last Tuesday, we were watching a Spring Training game and the Red Sox were getting trounced by the Yankees. That was the game where left field was taken over by a swarm of bees...my mother was petrified of bees. We watched the game with her nurse Mary who is originally from New York and of course, a big Yankees fan. As we talked about the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, there was a picture of Derek Jeeter on the TV. My mother took a piece of paper and wrote “guilty as charged” and circled it. She used to call him Derek Cheater. My mother doesn’t want you to mourn her death, but she’d rather have you celebrate her life. The only person who may not be celebrating though - would be my father Walter. He’s rested in peace for 19 years and now the two of them are going to be side by side again. As my daughter Lindsey said, “I can just see Wally now – that’s it - the party’s over”. For those of you who knew my mother and father, you know what I’m talking about. For those of you who didn’t know them, I suggest you watch a few reruns of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ because they were just like Raymond’s parents – right down to the three foot wooden spoon and fork on the kitchen wall. When Kevin Sullivan sat down with us the other night – we talked about what clothes my mother should wear. My immediate thoughts were vetoed because I thought she should be dressed in her housecoat because that’s what she wore - all the time - along with her pink slippers. I was over ruled - but the slippers stayed. Then we talked with Kevin about the family and how we packed up from East Boston and all moved into a house in the country - this small pig farming town called Burlington – all those kids with just three bedrooms and only one bathroom. We talked about how our multiple families combined to make up our extended family - - - and Kevin said ‘Oh so you guys are kinda like the Brady Bunch?” I said absolutely not – if anything we’re the ‘UnBradys”. Alice the maid would have run out of that house so fast her apron would have caught fire. The Tigges Family, what can I say? – we had no choice – we were Tigges’s by default. But Karen, Lorie, Simone and Michelle – you married into the family – you chose to be a Tigges - you’re crazier than the rest of us. From our entire family, I want to thank all of our friends; our neighbors and our co-workers. I’d like to thank the Lahey Clinic ER staff, ICU staff, and Security department for all their help and medical care they provided. I’d also like to thank the Kindred Hospital in Peabody and the Meadowview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Reading. Thank you to Kevin and Janet from Sullivan Funeral home for guiding us through these past few days; Thank you to Father Peter Shen for coming back home to Saint Margarets to celebrate Mass today; As well as Maizey and Pat the organist for today’s music. Thank you to Lindsey and Tammi for today's readings; Adam for helping us choose the music and for singing; and our pall bearers - Adam, Ben, Bobby, Kenny, Michael, Ryan, and Timmy. Thank you to Karen, Michelle, and Simone for reading our Prayers of the Faithful. And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special thanks to my nephews Kenny and Ryan who were there for her every day, and would honor her every request. Even if it meant that she had to watch hours of Spongebob Squarepants. I just want to share one final story with you and take from it what you will but what I’m telling you actually happened, so much so, that I had to take out my phone and record it because no one would believe us. The day my mother passed, Father Everest met with us at the hospital, and he told us there would be signs around us and he told us about when his grandmother died. He told us that prior to leaving for his grandmother’s funeral, his father set up all the food and drinks at the house so everything would be ready for when they returned. When they got back to the house, they noticed that one and only one drink, was missing from the table – even though his father locked the door when they left, and it was still locked when they returned. Last August, I bought tickets for a violin concert that took place, ironically, yesterday. Given what’s occurred over the past few days I gave the tickets away - missing out on the violin music that I had been waiting to hear for months. On Thursday, when Michelle and I went into my mother’s house to get some papers that Kevin Sullivan needed, I could hear a radio playing, but it was all static. Michelle said that ‘that’s weird because I was just down here and it wasn’t on.” I told Michelle that I’d go down the hall to the bedroom to get the info that Kevin needed and she went to shut the radio off. All of a sudden I heard Michelle call my name. I went into the living room and realized that the radio that was playing, was the radio next to my mother’s chair. Michelle looked at me and said “I can’t shut it off” - I said “why?” she said “because it’s already off.” I said ‘are you sure?’ and she said “look.” So I told her, “Michelle, I’m gonna record this because no one’s gonna believe us”. So I took out my phone, started recording, picked up the radio and started looking for the on/off button. I brought the radio closer to the phone so I could zoom in on the on/off button – and it was indeed, turned OFF. But as I brought that radio closer to my phone it started playing music ----- violin music. Later that day, my nephew Ryan told his mom that he thinks the radio was Nana’s way of telling us that she’s ‘OK’. We can all form our own opinion about the story that I just told you – I know I’ve already formed mine. Thank you all for being with us today.