Tere Leona Burch

Tere Leona Burch, 83, of Chesapeake Beach, MD died peacefully January 18, 2026 at Calvert Health Medical Center. She was born in Washington, DC on August 10, 1942 to John William and Helen Marie (Hicks) Ortenzo. She studied cosmetology and graduated from Chamberlain Vocational High School in 1961. Tere lived and worked in Clinton, MD prior to moving to Chesapeake Beach in 2018. She loved children and provided in-home daycare and carpool service for many families. She later worked for Rolling Greens as a holiday designer and decorator. She designed large holiday displays for commercial properties in and around DC, including Union Station. She was very creative. She baked themed birthday cakes from scratch and decorated them for the children in the family. She also sewed elaborate Halloween costumes for both children and adults. In her spare time, Tere enjoyed working on puzzles, reading, cooking, sewing, watching HGTV and Food Network shows, snuggling her cats and playing with her grand dogs.

Tere is survived by her daughters Ginger Foster of Chesapeake Beach, Kellie Thorne and her husband Jeff of Mechanicsville, MD, Christy Burch and her husband Grady Valencis of North Beach, MD, and Nikki Burch of Chesapeake Beach, grandchildren Breanna and Jacob Thorne, sister Janice Spires, nephew Kenneth Hobbs, cousin George Lucas and many others. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother John Julius Ortenzo and sister Marsha Fitzmaurice.

Friends and relatives are invited to celebrate Tere's life at a Memorial Service on Friday, February 6, 2026 at 10am at the Rausch Funeral Home located at 8325 Mt Harmony Ln, Owings, MD 20736.