Mary Therese Hartigan Donnelly

October 20, 1930 – January 4, 2022
Mary Therese “Tesse” Donnelly, age 91, completed her life on Wednesday, January 4, 2022, in her home, surrounded by family. She was the beloved wife of Bill Donnelly, M.D. who predeceased her.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Tesse was the daughter of Vincent and Theresa McNulty Hartigan and older sister to Vincent Emmet and Helen Patrice Hartigan. After attending Fontbonne College in her home state, Tesse transferred to the College of New Rochelle, in New York. Tesse was an active member of the Young Christian Students and the National Students Association, serving as chair of the latter’s Missouri-Kansas region in 1949. Tesse continued her education at the University of Chicago, studying under Yves Simon and earning her master’s degree in history. At the time, she was the only woman enrolled in the university’s graduate history program. It was during her time at the University of Chicago that she met the man she would marry, Bill Donnelly. They would stay married until his death in 2016.
Together, they led a household of five children in Oak Park, led it right into the fray of public life. Tesse maintained a fever pitch of community action. In her life, Tesse saw the overlap between her passions and the needs of the community as an invitation to get to work. From the La Leche League, to a 1970s women’s consciousness raising group, to a Friday “Lauds” women’s prayer group, to “Limina,” a women’s spirituality organization, Tesse worked with women to foster their mutual flourishing. During the 1970s Tesse was active in the Open Housing movement in Oak Park, which focused on retraining real-estate agents to prevent racial steering and encouraged Black home-seekers to live in the village, and on the board of the C.G. Jung Institute in Evanston, Illinois, serving for a time as its president. Tesse was a founding member of Arbor West Neighbors and the Experimental Program at Oak Park River Forest High School.
As often as her activism drew her from the home into the world, Tesse would bring the world into her home. Throughout their life together, Bill & Tesse would invite guests to join them for gatherings characterized by ritual and song; these gatherings included seder meals on Maundy Thursday and the singing of songs on St. Stephen’s Day. As founding members of the St. Giles Family Mass Community, Bill & Tesse also occasionally hosted mass in their home. Tesse was an avid organic gardener and delighted in visits from all manner of birds to her always-full birdfeeder.

When asked how she would like to be remembered Tesse replied, “As someone who cared.” Tesse’s life and legacy provide abundant evidence of that care.
Tesse is survived by her children Thomas (Anne Wicker), John, Theresa (John Irwin), Patrick (Jessica Daniels), and Maura (Matthew O’Halloran); and grandchildren Claude, Ambrose, Liam, Lucy, Gabriel, Beatrice, Fiona, Finnbar, Ronan, and Emmett.

Arrangements:
Wake
Friday, January 7, 2022–3 pm- 8 pm
Salerno’s Galewood Chapel
1857 N. Harlem Ave
Chicago, IL 60707

Requiem Mass
Saturday, January 8, 2022–Noon
Saint Giles Catholic Parish
1025 Columbian Avenue
Oak Park, Illinois 60302

Save the date: Memorial for Tesse Saturday May 28th, 2022
If you would like to make a donation in lieu of flowers, please consider supporting Arbor West Neighbors (arborwestneighbors.org). Their mailing address is P.O. Box 1584, Oak Park, IL 60304-1584. Arbor West’s mission is to support and enrich aging through community building and advocacy. They are a 501 (c)3 and donations are tax deductible