Teresa (Nistler) Brummer, of The Villages, FL, passed away peacefully on July 1, 2017. She is predeceased by Dale, her best friend and loving husband of 45 years, her parents, George and Anna (Mahowald) Nistler; sisters Mary (Vince) Daigle; Sister Florence Nistler, OSF; Sister Ruth Nistler, OSF; and brothers Father Edward Nistler and Andrew Nistler. She is survived by sisters Catherine (Tony) Radermacher of Wadena, Minnesota; Lucille (Bob) Dockendorf of Hines, Minnesota, and dozens of nieces and nephews.
Teresa was born on June 7, 1937, in Blackduck, Minnesota, the youngest of eight. Like her older brothers and sisters, she got her primary education in a one-room schoolhouse in Shooks, Minnesota. She attended St. Francis High School in Little Falls, Minnesota. Music was her life. Even as a little girl, she would harmonize with her mom and her sister Ruth. While doing housework as a young girl, Teresa would pretend to be on stage, always with a ‘pretend’ microphone in her hands. She quickly learned the words to every song she heard on the radio, and she sang them all.
While at St. Francis, Teresa’s favorite subject was music, and she took every opportunity to join the many different choral groups available. When her music teachers and her classmates would ask her how she had learned to harmonize, her answer was always “I don’t know. I just do it.” Near the end of her senior year, she followed her two older sisters, Ruth and Florence, and several classmates into the Franciscan Order and became a Franciscan Sister. She received her BA from The College of St. Catherine in St Paul, Minnesota, and taught elementary school for eight years in Waite Park and Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
In 1970, Teresa married Dale Brummer. The Brummers found employment in the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul and lived mainly in the western suburbs of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, and Plymouth. During 15 of her employment years, Teresa volunteered as a reader for Minnesota State Services For the Blind. After early retirement, she attended massage therapy school and volunteered her skills at a daytime hospice.
In 2002, they moved to The Villages in Central Florida, a decision they never regretted. For Teresa, The Villages proved to be a veritable Garden of Eden, with music groups of every kind. Without wasting any time, she became an active participant in The Showtime Singers, The Village Voices, The Way, Way, Way Off Broadway Players, the Villages Philharmonic Chorale, and The Villages Musical Company. Teresa was also a performing member of the special production, “Broadway to Savannah.” But her favorite stage experience of all was playing Philia in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Even though her husband Dale was in a care center for 16 months, Teresa spent nearly all of her time at his side, helping him deal with his incurable movement disorder in whatever way she could. She considered these years the most precious of her life. Teresa will be remembered as someone with a ready smile, a kind word, and a warm hug. She loved to make people happy.
A service celebrating Teresa’s life will be held at the New Covenant Methodist Church in the Villages on Friday, July 7, 2017, at 3 p.m.
Anyone wishing to make a monetary contribution in memory of Teresa may direct that contribution to the Anatomical Board of the State of Florida, the University of Florida College of Medicine, P.O. Box 100235, Gainesville, Florida, 32610-0235.