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Teresa McGilley Redlingshafer

Teresa McGilley Redlingshafer, 72, of Overland Park.

The Kansas City Star (Missouri)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

January 10, 2007 Wednesday

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

Relished-her-Irish-roots-TRIBUTE

HEADLINE: Relished her Irish roots TRIBUTE

BYLINE: Adjoa Adofo, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Teresa McGilley Redlingshafer, 72, of Overland Park.

When and how she died: Dec. 29, of Lyme disease.

Age: 72

Partner for life: While a student at Loretto Heights College in Denver, Teresa McGilley met her future husband, Raymond Redlingshafer Sr., at her aunt's home in Kansas City. Raymond Redlingshafer said it was his wife's good looks, great personality and consideration for other people that won him over.

In all five of the businesses he started, Teresa was her husband's "right-hand man," handling all the accounting. "She was smart, and she could handle it," he said. "She was the best partner you could have had."

Family life: After their marriage in 1954, the couple had seven children within nine years.

"We would go on picnics once a month at Loose Park across the street -- even during the winter in the snow," said daughter Teresa Gehring. "With seven kids, going out to eat was expensive. Having picnics made sense."

They would gather around a fire in one of the park's stone hearths, make s'mores and listen to their mother's stories.

"She would tell lots of stories about growing up, and her dad," Gehring said. "She would tell us stories that she heard from her relatives about Ireland."

Irish all the way: She was the daughter of Irish immigrants and loved "everything Irish." In fact, 10 years ago, she acquired dual citizenship. "Her father and mother were 100 percent Irish," said son Raymond Redlingshafer Jr.

"They (Redlingshafer and her siblings) were the classic children of immigrants who came over and achieved. With my uncle Jim McGilley, she began to collect family documents from Ireland." Before her death, she visited Ireland twice.

Interest in astrology: In 1974, Teresa Redlingshafer, who had a penchant for math and an interest in the stars and planets, began to study astrology. "It's tremendously math-oriented," said Raymond Redlingshafer Jr. "Later, she learned how to use a computer just so she could do astrology."

Survivors include: Her husband, four sons and a daughter-in-law, two daughters and 22 grandchildren.

The last word: "Her favorite quote was one by Mother Teresa: 'We may do no great things, only small things with great love,'" Gehring said.

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