Theodora "Teddy" Theobald Rancourt's Obituary
Theodora “Teddy” Theobald Rancourt, 73, died on Sunday, August 9, 2015 at her home, following a brief illness.
Theodora grew up on a 17 acre farm, 5 miles outside of Titusville, PA, the only child of Dorothy and Edward Theobald. The family moved to Florida while she was in high school. She graduated with Honors from Mount Vernon Seminary, Washington, D. C. an Optima Member, member of the Glee Club. She attended the University of Florida, where she was a member of ZTA. It was here she met and married her college sweetheart, Richard Thomson. After the birth of their first child, Mary Francis, they moved to Alabama in 1964, where their second daughter, Theodora Amandoline (Amy) was born. Following their divorce in 1968, she and her daughters returned to St. Petersburg, FL. She was a member of the hospital Auxiliary of Bayfront Medical Center, St. Petersburg, FL. It was during this period she married her second husband with whom she had her beloved son William Edward Somers. In Largo she was a member of Christ Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir and was a volunteer secretary. Following her divorce in 1979 she married Maurice “Moe” Rancourt in Largo, FL and she always said that their marriage was made in heaven. The moved to Chiefland in 1983, shortly after she lost her only son Willie. She was a volunteer in the Elementary school and serviced as a substitute teacher and substitute Librarian. In Chiefland she was active in the Chiefland Lions Club, The Friends of the Library of Luther Callaway Library, Tri County Outreach, and attended First United Methodist Church, where she served as volunteer secretary, on the Administrative Council, as Financial Secretary and sang in the choir. Since residing in Gainesville, she became a member of Kanapaha Presbyterian Church, where she has served as Secretary, Treasurer, as an ordained Elder, active on the Buildings and Grounds Committee and sang in the choir, a member of the Gator Dug Out Club and the Gator Tip-Off Club and a contributor to the Gainesville Community Playhouse. She was also a volunteer at North Florida Regional Medical Center. Her hobbies were reading, travel with her beloved Moe, needlework, and piano. She found great joy in scrapbooking with her daughters Mary and Amy, and spending time with her grandson Will. Teddy truly believed that faith, family and friends were the most important things in life.
She is survived by her husband, Maurice “Moe” Rancourt; two daughters, Mary Francis Thomson, and Theodora Amandoline Thomson, and one grandson, William Maurice Thomson, all of Gainesville; step children, Ellen (Joe) Gloff, of Chiefland, Wendy (James) Turner, of Greer, SC, and Raymond Maurice Rancourt, of Medford, NY; step grandchildren, Jennifer Johnson, of Chiefland, Michele Wood, of Archer, Evan Turner and Alexis Madison Turner, both of Greer, SC; step great grandchildren, Allie Lynn Johnson-Horne, of Chiefland, and Cameron Martin, of Archer; step great-great grandchildren, Mason Early Johnson-Horne and McKenlee Lynn Johnson-Horne, both of Chiefland;
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at 3:00 P. M., at the Kanapaha Presbyterian Church, 6221 SW 75th Street, Gainesville, with Rev. Dawn Conti, officiating. There will be a reception following the service in the church memorial hall. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 from 5 to 7 P. M., at Williams-Thomas Funeral Home Westarea, 823 NW 143rd St. . In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to make contributions to Haven Hospice, 4200 NW 90th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32606.
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