Teri Behrends

On December 16, 2019, Teri L. Behrends, loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and devoted friend to many took her last breaths with family by her side at the Clarissa Cook Hospice House. Teri’s life was cut all too short by Pulmonary Hypertension. We are all grateful for the gift of precious time this fighter gave us by persevering continuously throughout the years to beat the odds of this devastating disease. In the end, her fight shifted from focusing on the well-being of her children, to being reunited with her forever love and husband, Bill Behrends. We are comforted by the fact that she is once again at peace with her husband, holding the hand of her dad, and laughing with her brother. Teri is in a better place now, and so are the rest of us for having known her love and been blessed to walk this place with her.

Teri was born on August 25th, 1956, in Clinton, Iowa, the daughter of Andrew and Dona Roth. Over the course of several years the family moved to Wisconsin, and Illinois, before finally settling into their home in Davenport, Iowa. Teri was blessed with seven siblings during this childhood journey. Her bond with her siblings, and especially the stories involving their childhood shenanigans brought her immense joy and laughter over her final months.

Teri graduated from West High School in Davenport, and shortly thereafter met her future husband Bill. Teri and Bill wasted no time as they knew theirs was true love, and soon had their first of three sons. Shortly after the birth of their second son, Teri and Bill settled into the house that they would call home for nearly 40 years. It was just a few years after this that their final son was born. Teri went to school at Scott Community College, and shortly after receiving her AA degree was employed by Genesis Systems Group. Over the next three decades at Genesis, Teri’s hard work and dedication to the employees of Genesis, paved the way for her to become Director of Human Resources, a position that brought her great pride and joy. Her retirement from Genesis was bittersweet for she truly was invested in her community of colleagues.

The greatest accomplishment and most important role that Teri held was that of mother and grandmother. Teri always encouraged and supported her children’s and grandchildren’s activities, accompanying JR to music and theater events, Tony to gymnastics and swim meets, and Adam to baseball and football games. She was always our number one fan. It brought her great joy to get to reprieve this role again - number one fan - at her grandchildren’s activities. Whether it was tae-kwon-do tournaments, swim meets, cheer team, music and theater, gymnastics, half-time marching band and drumline performances, college visits, among myriad additional activities. She was always our number one fan, and her presence at these events will continue to be felt.

Teri strived to live a simple life, one in which giving of herself to others was her primary concern.  With this spirit she volunteered her time to Junior Achievement (one of her most favorite things was to present the JA curriculum to her granddaughters), Go Red for Women, a Genesis-sponsored holiday food drive, among other community events. She always recognized the importance of giving to others of your time, of your resources, and most importantly of your heart.

It is important for us to recognize all of the caregivers who provided love and support to Teri over the last decade-and-a-half, and in particular, the Pulmonary Hypertension team at the University of Iowa. Traci Stewart, her nurse specialist and case manager has held her hand and ours from the beginning, and who will continue to be a source of support and life-giving as she shares the stories of Teri with other patients. Teri was a model patient, and this ended up being a gift to us as her life-extending therapies were closely followed. Dr. Linda Cadaret and the doctors before her, who’s work in the PH research world, will offer other families the gift of hope and life. The nurses in Iowa City, and in particular Danilo, Zach, who’s humor and gentleness made us laugh when we needed it most. Julie, her palliative care nurse, who has become a friend, and lastly the entire Genesis Hospice team who helped us understand even more the gift of life and what it means to have precious time with someone.

Teri so enjoyed her time with family. While her illness and sudden passing leaves us all grief-stricken, up until her transition she was teaching us lessons – of grace, of truly being in community with family, of patience, and of empathy. She leaves our hearts with a fullness knowing that we shared with her a special time here on this earth. Her loving spirit will remain with us forever. We are called to not only celebrate her memory but to share it, to hold it in reverence, and to make sure that we live up to her example of kindness, and embrace those around us with welcome and love.

Funeral services to celebrate the life of Teri L. Behrends, 63, of Bettendorf, will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, December 21, 2019 at the Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, downtown Davenport.  Burial will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport. The family will greet friends Friday from 4 until 7 p.m. at the funeral home. There will be additional visitation at the funeral home from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service. Memorials may be made the Iowa Pulmonary Hypertension Support Group, Attention: Traci Stewart, Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242.

Teri is survived by her sons, William “JR” (Andy) Coghill-Behrends of Iowa City, Tony (Michael West) Behrends, of Bettendorf, Adam Behrends, of Westport, Connecticut; grandchildren: Hannah, Damond, Quincy, Abby, and Marlee; a great-grandson, Elton; mother, Dona Roth; siblings: Andy Roth, Scott (Anne) Roth, Todd (Shirley) Roth, Tracy (Don) Hains, Kelly Jimenez and Mary Kay Holmberg; mother-in-law, Betty Fahy; brother-in-law, Steven Behrends; sister-in-law, Pam Wilson and many, many more family members, friends and work family who cherish the memories they have of Teri.

In addition to her husband, Teri was preceded in death by her father, a brother, Mark Roth, and father-in-law, Ivan “Whitey” Fahy.  May they rest in peace.