Remembering Teresa O'Dell

Teresa Marie O’Dell passed into eternal peace on March 15, 2022.  Shewas born June 1, 1973, in Grand Prairie.  The first years of her life were filled with trauma, abuse and neglect.  The abuse was so severe that all biological connections were severed by the State, and she became a ward of the Child Protective Services network in Texas.

Then on July 8, 1982, Teresa began her new life as the adopted daughter of Richard and Barbara O’Dell.  Having a steady, loving family was new to Teresa but she learned to be a vital part of a family unit.  Despite a developmental disability, Teresa earned her high school diploma.  Upon the death of her adoptive mother in 2017, Teresa moved to Fairfield to live with her father.  At her adoption Teresa became the great-great granddaughter of Richard Windsor. Windsor served several terms as Justice of the Peace of Freestone County in the early years of the twentieth century.

Teresa was confirmed at Christ Episcopal Church in Mexia and was active in the Red Hats Club in Fairfield.  She was friendly and had a special talent for remembering peoples’ names.  She was also comfortable in a conversation with strangers or acquaintances alike.

Teresa is survived by her father, Richard O’Dell of Fairfield; her aunts, Leslie Avery and Peggy Beckham of Fairfield; and her two four-footed dependents, Tinker Bell and Monty Wooley.  Teresa had a special love of flowers, so a celebration of her life is planned for the Spring amid blooming and flowering plants.