Therese Rose Small

Therese Rose Small, 76, of Mt. Pleasant and formerly of Shepherd died Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005 at Tendercare in Mt. Pleasant. A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating her life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Father Robert Byrne and Father Rob Howe co-presiding. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call at Lux Funeral Home on Thursday and Friday from 3-8 p.m. There will be a rosary at 7 p.m. Friday. Visitation continues at the church on Saturday from 9-10 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Central Michigan Pregnancy Services, MidMichigan Hospice, or the charity of the donors choice. Envelopes are available at Lux Funeral Home. Therese was born June 25, 1929 in Rock Castle, Virginia, the daughter of George Thomas and Miriam Therese (Myers) Mahaffey. The Catholic faith was very important to Therese. She was a member of St. Vincent DePaul parish in Shepherd for over 50 years where she was heavily involved and had served on the altar society. In recent years she belonged to Sacred Heart parish, returning her to the place that she and her husband, Harold Small took their vows on Oct. 2, 1948. She was also a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in 1948. She retired from Giantway offices and JC Penny. Therese was known to be very patriotic. She was extremely proud of her husband being a veteran of World War II and belonged to the VFW Ladies Auxiliary. She enjoyed camping and making quilts for Central Michigan Pregnancy Services. But the two most important things in her life were family and church. Therese is survived by two children, Marilyn (John) Zerbe of Mt. Pleasant and Michael Small of Gaylord; eleven grandchildren, Ruth Anne (Emil) Sacco III, Christina (Chuck) Southwell, Annette Buckmaster, Samantha Buckmaster, Heather (Todd) Alspaugh, Johnna (Rick) Pardee, Nicole (Joe) Chvojka, Matthew Small, Soibhon Small, and Sydny Small; a step-grandson, Ben Zerbe; 12 great-grandchildren; three sisters, Mary C. Martin of Shepherd, Anna (Raymond) Hoffman of Shepherd, and Helen Grice of Midland; three brothers, Joseph (Sue) Mahaffey of Lake, Leo Mahaffey of Lake, and William (Kathleen) Mahaffey of Mt. Pleasant; and Cheryl Sabatovich and Mary Hoyt. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Harold in 2001; sister, Margaret Perry; brother, Jimmy Mahaffey; and son-in-law, Rob Buckmaster