Obituary of Mary Teresa Cotter

Mary Teresa Cotter, age 57, made her journey home to heaven on Thursday, October 17th at Emerson Hospital with her loving family by her side.

Mary was born in Arlington, MA on May 1, 1967. Mary was the youngest of four children of the late John M. and Bernice (Reed) Cotter. Mary’s personality and presence was one of a kind and she provided her family and friends the joy of her quick wit and endless love. 

Mary radiated a genuine light and joy that was felt by all who had the pleasure of knowing her. Mary had an intuitive way of sensing people’s emotions and doing her best to make everyone laugh. When she met you for the first time, she would want to know two very important things: your name and your birthday and would always remember both. Mary’s humorous and fun loving spirit was felt by all. She was the life of the party, always cracking a joke, and making us all laugh. 

In her free time, Mary loved to dance, sing and go bowling with family and friends. Mary loved attending dances and halloween parties at the K of C in Arlington with her friends from school. Even when Mary’s walking declined and she used a walker, she still enjoyed moving her hips on the dance floor. Mary also loved to travel around New England, Florida, and many cruises with her family. When at home, Mary loved to color, write in her journal, and watch many of her favorite sitcoms over the years.

Surviving Mary are her dear siblings, Michael Cotter and his wife Rhonda of Goodyear, AZ, Patricia Gibbons and her husband Joseph of Andover, Karen Gibbons and her husband John of Littleton; her nieces and nephews, whom she adored, Nicholas, Matthew, and Lauren Gibbons, Dennis Gibbons and his wife Heather, Bobby Gibbons and his wife Bethany, and Jimmy Gibbons, along with her great nephew and niece Aiden and Raegan Gibbons. 

Mary’s family would also like to extend the warmest thanks and appreciation to everyone at both: Revere Road group home, where she lived for over 10 years, and where she met one of her favorite people, Misty—and most recently at Lilac Court group home, where she only lived for 6 months, and was adored by both staff and roommates.

Visitation will be held on Monday, October 21st at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., Burlington, from 4 pm until 7 pm.  Her Funeral will begin at the Funeral Home at 9 am, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 am at St. Barbara’s Church, 138 Cambridge Rd., Woburn.  Burial will immediately follow at Woodbrook Cemetery, Woburn.  As an expression of sympathy, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mary’s honor to a charity that is dear to your heart.

Family Remembrance

A daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, great aunt, and dear friend to many, Mary Teresa Cotter.

How do you begin to describe the light of our lives? I am not sure that I can sum up Mary’s life in a few words, but I will do my best to express the essence of who Mary is and will always be.

Mary often expressed her quick witted humor and fun loving spirit wherever she was. 

Mary was the life of the party, always cracking a joke, and making us all laugh. 

Mary never wanted to be the first to leave a party, and if she did leave first, she experienced a great deal of FOMO, fear of missing out.

Mary could also be a bit sassy, only wanting to be kissed by men when they greeted her and would often snub women who wanted to kiss her. Mary knew what she wanted and could at times display stubbornness or be very vocal when things did not go her way. 

Mary would also express her frustration at times when we had difficulty understanding what she was trying to say. Mary would often say with a tone in her voice “I SAID” and then repeat what she had said. Of course her “I SAID” was as clear as day, but we often still did not understand what she was trying to say after that.

When Mary met you for the first time, she would always ask your name and when was your birthday. You could ask Mary anybody’s birthday in the family, including many people in the Gibbons family, and she would know their birthday.

Mary loves her family dearly, but had a special bond with her father. Mary had Dad wrapped around her little finger and he provided for her every need. Mary knew this and took full advantage whenever she could.

Mary is the loving and proud Aunt of Nick, Matt & Lauren. Mary often attended their sporting events and recitals when they were younger and was so thrilled to share in these happy occasions with them.

Mary also shared a special bond and relationship with her great-grand nephew, Aiden. 

As you may have seen in all of the pictures that were displayed last evening, they adore each other.

Mary greatly enjoyed eating and going to restaurants. It was one of her favorite things to do. From accompanying our parents to Jimmies in Arlington, enjoying the meatloaf at Not Your Average Joe’s, the Burger King french fries after chorus group in Lexington, to enjoying Chinese food on New Year’s Eve, food was a joy in Mary’s life.

Mary also derived great pleasure from traveling with our family to Hampton Beach and the White Mountains as kids and later years on cruises with Mum and Dad and trips to Florida with Joe and I. 

Mary loved her trips with Karen, John, and the kids to Newfound Lake in New Hampshire and Old Orchard Beach in Maine. These were quite the adventures and many laughs and fond memories were had by all.

Over the years, Mary spent many a weekend night and holiday sleeping over at mine and Karen’s homes. As much as she enjoyed these sleepovers, by early the next day she was wanting to return to her group home at Revere Rd., as once again, Mary feared she was going to miss out on the weekend Dunkin Donuts run for iced tea, her favorite.

When Mary was not enjoying all these other activities, she loved to color and play the card game Go Fish. Most of all, Mary loved people and loved when she established a strong bond with them. 

Mary touched so many people in her life, from Gail, her supervisor at NuPath, to Misty, Mary’s beloved friend and group home manager for many years at Revere Road.

As you may have noticed, I speak of Mary in the present tense, as I know that Mary is still with us, although the soul leaves the body, goes to heaven and lives on in eternity. 

Mary is always in our memories and forever in our hearts. I speak to her often throughout the day and call her by her many nicknames of missy and queeny.

In the past year, Mary wanted to be called mum. We are not sure why, but when I called her mum she would consistently say, yes and have a smile on her face.

Mary, you are now our angel perpetually watching over us and guiding us forward from this day onward.

Mum, Love you forever and always.