Teresa (Tese) M. Lane-Grapsas, age 54, died on April 16th, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN. She was born on December 12, 1963, in Minneapolis, MN to Colleen M. (Maher) and the late John F. Lane. She was raised and made her home in Stevens Point, WI.

She graduated from Stevens Point Area Senior High, then from UW-Madison with a degree in education. Tese returned home to Stevens Point and earned her masters degree in speech/language pathology from UW-Stevens Point. She was a speech/language pathologist in the Stevens Point Area Public School District, working at Bannach Elementary for 26 years. She especially loved her co-workers in the S/L department at Bannach. She dedicated her personal and professional life to children. She loved them all and lived by this quote, “A hundred years from now, it won’t matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be a different because I was important in the life of a child.” – Forest E. Witcraft. She was an exceptionally talented teacher and devoted most of her energy into working with children having special needs. She was a strong advocate for all children.

Her summer job at Chet’s Blueberry Patch became her favorite. She loved meeting and talking with people as well as walking the acres of blueberries. She often said that if she could, she would quit her job and work at the patch. She was so looking forward to this year’s season.

In her spare time, she loved to sew and made thousands of mittens, blankets, hats, and baby buntings, just to name a few. Because she wanted to make people happy, she spent hours in her cave (her basement sewing room), often staying up through the night to alter a dress, craft a costume, or create any number of other projects.

Though she was passionate about her work, she was best of all, a terrific mom. She has three children, Casey, Molly and Sophie. She raised them to be kind, honest, and hard-working. The guiding principle of her life was to make the world a better place and Tese taught her children to do the same.

Tese appreciated each day and was kind to everyone. She would be honored if we all did the same.

She is survived by husband Tony Grapsas and their children Casey Grapsas, Molly Grapsas, and Sophie Grapsas; her mother, Colleen Lane, her siblings, Mary (Nick) Weaver and their children Sam Weaver (Josh Kodet), Max Weaver and Lila Weaver; Johnny Lane and his children Brianna Lane and Jack Lane (Alyssa Vogt); Kathleen (Patrick) Quinn and their children Kaylie Trinko (Adam & Jakob) and Bryan Quinn and Matthew Quinn; Tricia Lane; mother-in-law Yvonne Grapsas and dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. She was predeceased by her father John (Jack) Lane.

Our family extends a thank you to the medical team and support staff at Mayo Clinic and St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN. We offer our deepest gratitude to Dr. Meghan Murphy M.D., neurosurgeon, for her talent and selfless effort to help Tese and her compassion to our family. We send our love to Aunt Marcia Johnson who was an inspiration and friend to Tese. Marcia sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Colleen, Tony, and the kids during her entire hospital stay.

A Celebration of Life Service for Tese will be held at 3:00 PM on Saturday April 28, 2018 at the Shuda Funeral Chapel, 3200 Stanley St. Stevens Point. Friends and family will gather to share memories from 12:00 - 3:00 PM at the chapel before the service. In lieu of flowers, a memorial to Tese will be established at a later date.