Theresa Grasso Munisteri

1931 - 2022

Theresa (Terry) Grasso Munisteri
March 18, 1931 - June 23, 2022
[This obituary contains the text that Theresa herself wrote in advance of her death.]
Theresa (Terry) Grasso Munisteri died on June 23, 2022. The daughter of Rose LaMontagna and Salvatore Grasso, she was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 18, 1931. She is predeceased by her sister, Lucille Judge, and her grandson, Denali Schmidt, and survived by her children: Joanne; Robert and his wife, Cindy; Laura; Stephen; James and his wife, Celia; and Richard Patti. She also leaves her sister, Gloria Cavaliere. Terry's grandchildren are Elena Smith, Teresa Munisteri, and Sequoia Schmidt; she leaves four great-grandchildren. Also surviving her are her nieces and nephews: Tracey Judge Van Dommelen and her husband, John; Lisa Cavaliere Kaytes and her husband, Tony; Joseph Cavaliere and his wife, Michele; and Michael Judge. In addition, she leaves her grandnieces, Jamie Van Dommelen and Katherine Cavaliere, and her grandnephews, Justin Kaytes and Michael Cavaliere. She had a deep affection for Judy Granberry, Shari Heyen, Nadia Karim, and her Morico cousins. Beatrice Pace was her friend and strength through many crises. She is also deeply grateful for the able and heartfelt care that she received from the Lopez family - especially Diana, Maria, and Fernanda - during the most difficult, final months of her life.
As a biology-chemistry major, Theresa graduated from Albertus Magnus College and took postgraduate courses in art history at the University of Houston and Rice University. Before the birth of her first child, she managed the blood bank at New Rochelle Hospital in New York. After she moved to Houston in 1964, Terry worked as a volunteer for many organizations. She was on the boards of the Alliance Francaise, Italy in America Association, St. Joseph's Hospital Women's Public Relations Council, and the Rice Faculty Women's Club. She did volunteer work for Ben Taub Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, the Houston Symphony, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Alley Theater, and many other organizations. She enjoyed her Saturday afternoons at the Deutscher Stammtisch, and for over thirty-five years she was a member of the Cercle de Lecture. In addition to having aided many candidates in election campaigns, she was a longtime member of Magic Circle Republican Club. In her later years she worked as an editor of scholarly manuscripts for the professors in the Rice University School of Humanities.