Topeka Capital-Journal, Sunday, July 20, 2014, page 7B:

Dr. Teresa Kay "Terry" Rolfs

Dr. Teresa Kay "Terry" Rolfs, 67, Topeka, died Friday, July 18, 2014, at a Topeka hospital.  She had cancer.

Dr. Rolfs held a doctorate in education and worked in Topeka Unified School District 501 for 37 years before she retired in 2010.  She taught at Gage Elementary School, Landon Middle School and Topeka West High school.  She also had been curriculum coordinator at Landon Middle School from 1993 to 1996 and at Topeka West High School from 2003 until her retirement.  She was the literacy coach at Topeka West from 2007 to 2010.  She had been an adjunct professor at the University of Kansas from 1994 to 2004 and conducted summer workshops for Friends University from 2007 to 2009.  At the time of her death she was a sponsor for student teachers through Washburn University.

She was a founding member of the Baby Boomer generation, born Aug. 5, 1946, in Great Bend, to Hugo Q. and Julia Kathleen Dressel Rolfs, and her birth was news in Rice County.  And rightly so, but that batch of 1946 infants also included Mr. October and U.S. President No. 42, William Jefferson Clinton.  In national news the U.S. Mint put the face of Franklin D. Roosevelt on its dime coin.  In world news Juan and Maria Eva Duarte Peron were elected to office in Argentina.

Dr. Rolfs graduated from Topeka High School in 1964 and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education at Ottawa University in 1968.  She began her teaching career at merriam Elementary School in Johnson County in 1968.  She earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Washburn University in 1985 and her doctorate degree from The University of Kansas in 1994.

She was perhaps the world's greatest visitor, having honed the necessary skills in parent-teacher conferences, teacher-student conferences, peer networking and entertaining her nieces and nephews through the years.  She was always reading and regularly attended the theaters in Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City.  She'd be eager to share a new word that crossed her path and many times after finishing a book think of who else might enjoy it and pass it on.  She also enjoyed music and playing cards and board games.

Dr. Rolfs was a Democrat and a member of Central Congregational Church and professional organizations.

Survivors include three sisters, the homeless Marianne Rolfs*, Karlene Lockard, Topeka, and Kathleen Rolfs Barr, Charlotte, NC; two nieces, Jesse Lockard and Hilary Barr; two nephews, Thomas Lockard and Sebastian Barr; a great-nephew, Sirius Minick; and brothers-in-law, Peter Barr and Hal Lockard.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Jeannine Rolfs.

Cremation is planned.  Burial of cremains will be at Mount Hope Cemetery.  Memorial services will be announced at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to Midland Hospice Care, 200 S.W. Frazier Circle, Topeka, Kan., 66606, or to Central Congregational Church, 1248 S.W. Buchanan St., Topeka, Kan., 66604.  Penwell-gabel Mid-Town Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

*At the time this obit was written, Mariann Rolfs was in the process of moving, hence the inside joke about being homeless. --- Cheryl Brooks White