"Theresa Connors died October 16, 2012 in Sandia Park, New Mexico. She was born on Dec. 27, 1948 in Ocala, Florida to L'Louise and James Connors and grew up in Bossier City, Louisiana, graduating from Bossier High School in 1966. She attended Louisiana Tech and LSU where she obtained her Masters Degree in Library Science.
Tess was an artist, a gardener, a lover of animals and books. Her home in Arkansas was filled with art that she had either made herself or collected, with hundreds of books and, always, with her special cats. Outside she surrounded her home with beautiful gardens. She worked as a librarian in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Missouri and Russellville, Arkansas where she lived until the onset of her illness. For years she wrote book reviews for "The Library Journal" and kept up a lively correspondence with several of her favorite authors through that venue.
She is survived by her sister, Connie Strange of New Mexico and three brothers, Danny Connors of Georgia, Jim Connors of Tennessee and Terry Connors of New Mexico as well as several nieces and nephews and their families." (from online Obituary)
From George
I learned only two weeks ago that Tess had passed away in October 2012. This came as a shock.
Tess was a colleague and close friend of Fawzia's, who worked with Tess at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL, in the early 1990's. They continued their friendship when Fawzia moved to Conway, AR, to work at the University of Central Arkansas library about an year later. Tess was already at Arkansas Tech University in Russelville, only 40 miles from Conway. Through Fawzia, I also knew Tess for more than 20 years.
Although Fawzia later moved to Hong Kong (where I worked) and later to Washington DC, we saw Tess regularly because we owned rental property in Conway. Whenever we visited Conway to check on these two houses, we would go onto Russellville and spend a day or two with Tess. Fawzia last saw Tess in the summer of 2011, when Fawzia and Roy visited.
My last communication with Tess was in April, 2012, when she wrote in this blog site. If you go to the entry dated April 25, 2012, you'll see the heartfelt letter that Tess wrote when Fawzia was leaving for Hong Kong. The entry on April 17, 2012, was written by Tess and includes some photos. A few were taken on her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.
From Tess' brother Jim and her sister Connie, I learned that Tess had been diagnosed with late stage cancer on July 4, 2012. She spent her last day's at Connie's house in New Mexico. Her beloved cat Merlin was also with her.
Tess and Fawzia were both born in 1948, and they died, too soon, in 2012. May they rest in peace.
Tess and Fawzia were both born in 1948, and they died, too soon, in 2012. May they rest in peace.
Tess and Fawzia on tour in Arkansas
