Longtime worker for Catholic causes dies

Lou Gehrig's - The way Theresa Willett dealt with the disease inspired an Easter story Thursday, March 20, 2008NANCY HAUGHT The Oregonian Staff


Theresa Willett, a prominent Portland Catholic whose struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease inspired a 2007 Easter story in The Oregonian, died Tuesday, March 18, 2008, in her home. She was 54.

Diagnosed three years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive illness that affects the brain and spinal cord, Willett refused to let the disease diminish her life.

She was a member of All Saints Parish for 30 years and helped organize an ongoing lecture series there. She served on the board of Catholic Charities for several years and was a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an ancient charitable order of the church that builds schools, hospitals and health clinics in the Holy Land.

For the past two years, Willett used a wheelchair and in recent months could not speak without a computer voice generator. But she continued to attend events in the community and hosted monthly neighborhood gatherings in her Laurelhurst home.

"She wanted very much to live a graceful life up to the end," said her husband, Ken Willett. "She wanted to live with dignity and carry on in spite of the disease."

The Rev. Patrick Brennan, working Wednesday on a homily for Willett's funeral Mass, recalled her last years.

"A woman so active, struck with ALS, but somehow, despite that, she remained active," he said. "And her action was transferred to others, who carried out the missions she had started. Her spirit was not, in any way, reduced."

Willett saw her illness as a cross that she was willing to bear.

"There is a role for suffering in life," she said in a 2007 Easter story in The Oregonian. "Everyone has something to bear. You can't cut yourself off and think you are unique or be demanding in your suffering. If someone else is suffering, you have to be there."

She was born Theresa Marie Laskowski in Galveston, Texas, on Jan. 25, 1954. She moved to Portland in 1960 and attended Holy Child Academy and graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla in 1976. She married Ken Willett in 1978.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by their four children, Catherine, Claire, Christopher and Colin; two brothers, Patrick and Mark Laskowski; a sister, Kathleen Dickson; and her mother, Dorothy.

A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in All Saints Church in Northeast Portland. A rosary will be said at 7 p.m. Monday in the church.

Her family suggests remembrances to the ALS Association, where she had been an active volunteer since her diagnosis.

Nancy Haught: 503-294-7625; nancyhaught@news.oregonian.com