Teresa Ellen “Terry” Brashears, an Annapolis resident who found a second career in fundraising for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, died April 19 from injuries sustained in a car accident in Frederick County.
She was 69, and had worked many years in the archdiocesan Advancement Department, most recently as assistant director of the Catholic Community Foundation since March 2023.
Auxiliary Bishop Adam J. Parker, vicar general of the archdiocese, praised Brashears in a letter to Catholic Center employees, saying she “was known to show her upbeat spirit and energy to all whom she encountered.”
“She was passionate about the mission to which she was so dedicated and was known by so many friends and benefactors of the archdiocese as a person of warmth, compassion and hope,” Bishop Parker said.
Kim Montgomery, chief advancement officer for the archdiocese, said Brashears’ “warmth, dedication, and unwavering passion for her work with the Catholic Community Foundation touched countless lives. For nearly a decade, initially through the Annual Appeal … she helped others create legacies of faith and generosity – an enduring reflection of her own spirit.”
“Terry wasn’t just a valued colleague; she was a dear friend to so many on our team, among our CCF board members, Catholic Center colleagues, and throughout the community.”
Matt Anthony, senior director of engagement and giving for the archdiocese, called Brashears “a radiant witness to her faith, joyfully dedicating her life to the mission of the church. Through her tireless work and warm heart, she built lasting bonds with the generous members of our faith community and shared their love for Christ with grace and gratitude.
“Her smile,” he added, “lit up every room, and her presence was a gift to all she served. She was a beloved ambassador of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and her legacy will continue to inspire.”
Born Oct. 26, 1955, in Baltimore, Brashears was one of six children of James W. and Mary L. O’Neill. She attended St. Ursula School in Parkville and the Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore.
After graduating cum laude from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University with a degree in biology, she did postgraduate work at University of Maryland Baltimore County in Catonsville and The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She also was a past president of the Maryland chapter of the American Society for Microbiology.
She spent 19 years with the medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Company in Hunt Valley, working in new product development, sales and market research.
Brashears had spent many years as a parishioner of St. Pius X in Rodgers Forge, which has closed and joined with Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. Her faith led her skills into fundraising.
After working in development for the School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen from 2005 to 2014, she was manager of donor relations at the T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving in Owings Mills.
In 2014, she became senior director of development for stewardship and administration for the archdiocese, a job she held until the end of 2021. In February 2022, she founded the Fundraising Resource Network in Annapolis, and she rejoined the archdiocese at the Catholic Community Foundation the following year.
At the foundation, she helped establish endowments and restructure operational procedures.
She became known as a confident problem-solver. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person worship was suspended, she told readers of the Catholic Review, “Please don’t forget your parish,” adding that people could mail or drop off their envelopes, and it was also now the perfect time to sign up for online giving through parish websites.
She also was on the board of the Women’s Care Center in Baltimore.
Father Patrick Carrion, pastor of St. Matthew in Baltimore, which also has a worship site at St. Francis of Assisi in Baltimore, was a longtime friend. He said Brashears was the point of contact for the foundation, which manages millions of dollars in funds to support clergy, parishes, education and Catholic cemeteries.
“She was easy to be with, and very responsive,” he said. “She’d get you the information you needed.”
And her affability lingered. “Our phone calls would take half an hour. The business side took up just five minutes.”
Brashears and husband, Douglas, whom she married in 1987, moved to Annapolis from Chester three months ago, and were planning on joining St. Mary Parish there.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by sons Kevin and Matthew, stepson Jason Brashears and stepdaughter Amanda Berger, and one grandson.
A daughter, Anna, died in 2020 of glioma, a type of brain cancer, at age 26. Brashears would call that death “a defining faith moment.”
Other survivors include sisters Mary Jean Erb (David) and Judith A. Bopp (Andy) and brothers James W. O’Neill Jr. (Paulette), Francis J. O’Neill (Bonnie) and Matthew J. O’Neill (Anne).
“Her sudden passing, just as she was preparing for a well-earned retirement, leaves a profound void in our hearts,” said Montgomery. “Yet in our sorrow, we find comfort in knowing she is now reunited with her beloved daughter Anna whom she has missed so deeply.”
The archdiocese made grief counselors available to Catholic Center employees who may be struggling with the tragic death of their colleague.
Visitation is April 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road, Towson.
Bishop Parker will offer a funeral Mass May 1 at 11 a.m. at her former parish, St. Pius X, 6428 York Road, Rodgers Forge. Her ashes will be buried with her daughter’s at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Anna Kathleen Denise Brashears ’12 Scholarship Fund at Notre Dame Preparatory School, 815 Hampton Lane, Towson, Md. 21286 or online at https://www.notredameprep.com/giving/giving-to-ndp .
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