Teresa Guido was born April 10,1923, in the hill town of Cerisano in the Calabria region of Southern Italy, to Francesco Marino and Antonietta Greco. There, she was known as Tressinedra, and had a rich youth surrounded with laughter and the love of parents, siblings Giuseppe and Ubaldo, and close friends, in particular Nella, her inseparable soul mate.

As a young girl, Teresa learned to sew and became an accomplished seamstress. After WWII, she married her sweetheart, Giuseppe “Peppino” Guido, a tailor by profession, and together they had two daughters, Maria and Silvana. During this time, Italy was grappling with the aftermath of the War, which brought famine, unemployment, and natural disasters. Peppino decided to leave Cerisano to try to build a better future for his family overseas. He first immigrated to Canada, and after working four years in Montreal, he sent for his wife and daughters.

In 1956, at the age of 33, although grief-stricken at having to leave behind her mother and father, Teresa bravely set out to rejoin her husband with her girls in tow, traveling by ocean liner. She was happy in Montreal, reunited with relatives and paesani, and even started to learn French! There, she fostered a sense of independence and confidence that held her in good stead in the coming years.

In 1960, the family immigrated to the US, settling in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and two months later, their last child, and only son, Anthony, was born. The Guido home was always filled with relatives and friends and, as immigrants themselves, Peppino and Teresa helped family members when they first arrived in their new country, first her brother Ubaldo, and then her uncle and his son.

Teresa was a wonderful cook. Her bread recipe was coveted, and imitated, by relatives and friends, and she was “famous” for her traditional Calabrese specialties, like fresine, taralli, and cuculi. Joseph tried to assimilate their family to the ways and culture of America while Teresa always kept up Calabrese traditions, such as canning tomatoes and making sausages and other salumi each year. Their annual parties and holidays were filled with family, paesani – and, of course – food. To everyone’s delight, Teresa would make her famous “cuddruuriddri” at Christmastime and “frittata” during the Easter season.

Teresa and Peppino, both devout Catholics, were happily married for over 60 years, until his passing in 2013. Teresa had a lifelong devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and looked forward each year to visiting the Church in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx for the festival in Our Lady’s honor.

In the last year of her life, Teresa became ill, was bed-bound and had to be on an oxygen machine 24-hour a day. She bore this cross with patience and cheerfulness, without complaint and with a sweet smile for anyone who came to see her. Also during this period, she was grateful that every Thursday afternoon Fr. Sandro Leyton, a priest from St. Margaret of Cortona Church, brought her Communion, and they prayed together in Italian. Teresa received the Sacrament of Extreme Unction a week before death from Fr. Oliver, also serving at St. Margaret’s Church.

 Teresa celebrated her 101st birthday in the spring of 2024 and passed on June 21, 2024. She is survived by her children Maria, Silvana and Tony, her daughter-in-law Misty, her son-in-law Richard, her grandchildren Jordana, Juliana, Joseph, Olivia and Samantha.

Reposing Friday, June 28, 2024 from 4:00-7:00 pm at Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, 6110 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, NY. Mass of Christian Burial Services Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 9:45 am at St. Margaret of Cortona Church. Entombment at St. Raymond’s Cemetery, Bronx, NY.